Current London Bridge in London
London Bridge in California
Of course it is in London! Right?? Well that depends. Depending on which London Bridge you are referring to. London Bridge was destroyed and rebuilt for several times. In 1013, the bridge was burned down by King Aethelred in a bid to divide the invading forces of the Dane Svein Haraldsson. This episode probably inspired the well-known nursery rhyme London Bridge is Falling Down.
A new bridge was later built in 1831 but couldn't handle the ever-increasing flow of traffic across the Thames River and it was subsequently discovered that the bridge was sinking an inch every eight years. The British government soon decided to put the bridge up for sale. On 18 April 1968, London Bridge was sold to the American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch of McCulloch Oil for US$2,460,000. The bridge was dismantled, and each stone was numbered. Everything was shipped 10,000 miles to Long Beach, California, and then trucked to Lake Havasu City. Those marking on the stones can still be seen today. The bridge was reconstructed and re-dedicated on October 10, 1971. Urban legend has it that McCulloch mistaken London Bridge as the more impressive Tower Bridge, but he denies it.
So technically, the Old London Bridge is in California and of course, another new bridge now stretches across River Thames. So next time when people ask you, where exactly is London Bridge. Well? It is in London, and California too, brick by brick.
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