This Day in History: Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began in San Francisco Bay on this day in 1933. The Frommer's travel guide described the Golden Gate Bridge as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." The bridge cost more than $35 million [in 1933 dollars] and was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
The Golden Gate Bridge is also the most used suicide site in the world, although the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in China has a considerable number of suicides as well. Between 1937 and 2012, an estimated 1,400 bodies were recovered from the bridge area. Most die from the impact alone, and if you survived you are usually left with severe organ damage (multiple ruptured organs and necks, pelvises, etc.). The George Washington Memorial Bridge in Seattle also has a high number of suicides.
In Canada, the Prince Edward Viaduct in Toronto, Ontario, was ranked as the second most fatal standing structure in North America, after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Suicides dropped to zero after a barrier was completed in 2003. The High Level Bridge in Edmonton, Alberta, is also considered a suicide bridge.
Apart from bridges, the site with the most suicides is the Aokigahara forest in Japan.
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