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Oil tycoon Robert P. McCulloch purchased London Bridge for $2,460,000 on 17th April, 1968. The Victorian structure, which had been sinking into the River Thames at a rate of one inch every eight years, was then dismantled stone by stone and shipped to the USA, where it now bestrides Lake Havasu City, Arizona.\xa0\nThe wheeze was the work of advertising executive-turned-London councilor Ivan Luckin, who convinced his colleagues that it might be possible to sell the bridge to pay for the costs of building a new one, and set about a marketing blitz including a press conference in New York in which he invoked the crossing\u2019s illustrious Roman history.\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the gaudy launch ceremony; debunk the myth that McCulloch thought he was buying Tower Bridge instead; and reveal that buying the bridge wasn\u2019t even this eccentric entrepreneur\u2019s wackiest idea\u2026\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018How London Bridge Ended Up In Arizona\u2019 (HISTORY, 2016): https://www.history.com/news/how-london-bridge-ended-up-in-arizona\n\u2022 Inside Arizona's London Bridge (BBC, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnHy4_P8SCE\n\u2022 \u2018London Bridge in America - The Tall Story of a Transatlantic Crossing, By Travis Elborough\u2019 (Jonathan Cape, 2013):\xa0\nhttps://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/London_Bridge_in_America/n96uDvKN3ioC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ivan+Luckin&pg=PA271&printsec=frontcover\nLove the show? Join\xa0\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\xa0\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\nJoin now via\xa0Apple Podcasts\xa0or\xa0Patreon.\xa0Thanks!\npodfollow.com/Retrospectors\n\xa0\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices