On April 18, 1968, American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch purchased Britain’s famed London Bridge and relocated it to Arizona. Though it was dubbed “McCulloch’s Folly,” it turned out to be a successful gamble and became one of Arizona’s most popular attractions. Several bridges have stretched across the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in Central London for centuries. A variety of wooden bridges were built between 50 AD and 1176. In the 1170s, King Henry II called for a new stone bridge to be built. Work on it began in 1176 and was completed in 1209. The bridge was about 26 feet wide and between 800 and 900 feet long. Over time, shops and buildings were constructed on the bridge – up to 200 at one point. This put a lot of stress on the bridge and its irregularly-spaced arches. There were several arch collapses over the years, and each time they had to be rebuilt. By the late 1700s, the bridge needed constant, expensive repairs and Londoners began calling for a new bridge.