March 19, 1932: The Sydney Harbour Bridge Opens

March 19, 1932: The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Along with the city's Opera House, built just 1 mile away in 1973, it has been a symbol of its country ever since.

Running 3,770 feet, it carries the Cahill Expressway, national highway M1, across the harbor from Sydney to Kirribilli, The Expressway was named for Joseph Cahill, Premier of New South Wales (equivalent to an American State's Governor) from 1952 to his death in 1959, following his approval of the construction of the Opera House.

"The Coathanger" is a steel arch bridge, and it resembles 2 bridges constructed earlier in New York City. The Hell Gate Bridge connected Queens and Roosevelt Island over the East River in 1917, and the Bayonne Bridge opened on November 15, 1931, just 4 months before the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It connects Staten Island and Bayonne, New Jersey, over the Kill Van Kull.

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March 19, 1932 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet.

There were 2 games in the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Montreal Maroons, 6-4 at the Montreal Forum. And the Toronto Maple Leafs, on their way to winning the Stanley Cup, beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 11-3 at the new Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. King Clancy, Joe Primeau, Busher Jackson, Earl Miller and Baldy Cotton each scored 2 goals and an assist.

And in English soccer, Arsenal defeated North-East team Newcastle United, 1-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London. Newcastle would get its revenge a month later, beating Arsenal in the FA Cup Final.