Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 24, 1883, and just under two years later–on May 19, 1885–Robert Odlum became the first person to jump off the bridge.
Odlum was a diver who wanted to prove that it was safe to jump from such heights. As you can imagine, it didn’t turn out so well. According to Wikipedia,
On the morning of May 19, Odlum entertained a party of acquaintances at Paul Boyton’s “Ship”, including boxer Paddy Ryan, wrestler William Muldoon, and actor Henry E. Dixey. Paul Boyton later claimed to have learned that Odlum had visited the Church of the Redemptorist Fathers that morning and had gone to confession and received communion. The police had been alerted to Odlum’s plans. Odlum sent two friends, James Haggart and a Mr. Cluss, onto the bridge in a cab so that Haggart could decoy the police by pretending to be the jumper. A tugboat containing spectators for the jump sailed to within a hundred yards of the bridge, with a rescue swimmer hired by Odlum on board.
Odlum jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge at 5:35 p.m. A strong wind was blowing when Odlum jumped and seemed to turn him slightly in the air. As a result, he struck the water at an angle, hitting the water with his feet and right hip. The rescue swimmer failed to act, but Boyton swam to Odlum in the water. Odlum was lifted into a boat and brought to the tug’s galley, where Ryan and Muldoon assisted in resuscitation efforts. Odlum briefly regained consciousness, asking, “Is it all over?…Did I make a good jump? “Arterial blood began dripping from Odlum’s mouth, causing him to ask, “Am I spitting blood?” Robertson, a friend of Odlum from Boston, reassured him that the fluid was only brandy. Without speaking further, Odlum began to hemorrhage internally. He died at 6:18 p.m., before the ambulance summoned by Muldoon and Jere Dunn could arrive. An undertaker’s wagon carried Odlum’s body to the rooms of William H. Kennedy, the Coroner of New York City.
The autopsy revealed that Odlum’s spleen, liver and kidneys were ruptured. A deposit of tuberculosis was found at the base of his left lung. Odlum’s first, third and fifth ribs were broken. The cause of death was determined to be concussion.