Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 25, 1893 The yacht Feiseen established a new speed record for steam-powered, propeller-driven vessels during a race against the fast-paced passenger steamboat Monmouth in New York Harbor. Originally measuring 78 feet and nine inches (24 meters) in length, Feiseen was launched that past spring at City Island in the town of Pelham, New York.... Continue Reading →
August 24, 2020 In the state of Assam in northeastern India, a newly installed aerial tramway system in the greater Guwahati region was formally inaugurated. Guwahati Ropeway crosses the Brahmaputra River and serves as a link between the neighborhood and commercial center of Panbazar in the city of Guwahati on the river’s southern bank; and... Continue Reading →
The third of the 1925 regional meetings of the Joint Board on Interstate Highways was held in a place that had been famously characterized by poet Carl Sanburg (1878-1967) as the City of Big Shoulders. This regional meeting, as with those both past and future, would largely involve having attendees figure out and decide upon... Continue Reading →
It would be an understatement to say that John C. Nicholson (1862-1942), a lawyer residing in the city of Newton, Kansas, was a big fan of highways. A longtime advocate for well-paved, high-quality roads, Nicholson ultimately focused much of his time and enthusiasm on promoting U.S. Route 50 (US 50). As president of the U.S.... Continue Reading →
August 19, 2011 In southeastern Virginia’s Hampton Roads metropolitan area, operations began for the light rail system based in the city of Norfolk and named the Tide. This light rail system was the first one to go into service in the Old Dominion. The Tide, which took a little over three years to build, is... Continue Reading →
August 18, 1957 An arch bridge in the municipality of Fredrikstad in southeastern Norway was opened. The Fredrikstad Bridge crosses the river Glomma and connects the eastern and western parts of the municipality. Crown Prince Olav (1903-1991) officiated at the inaugural ceremony for this bridge. At the time, he had been serving as the country’s... Continue Reading →
August 17, 1923 A vertical-lift bridge crossing the Piscataqua River and connecting the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with Badger’s Island in the town of Kittery, Maine, was formally inaugurated. This bridge was dedicated to the memory of American soldiers and sailors who had lost their lives during World War I just a few years... Continue Reading →
Less than two weeks after the first regional meeting focused on potential U.S. Highway Numbered System routes was held in San Francisco, the second of these meetings took place in a major midwestern hub located on the western edge of Missouri. A few days before this gathering in what is now Missouri’s largest city, the... Continue Reading →
August 13, 1955 Nearly four months after it first went into service, the Canso Canal Bridge in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia was formally opened. C.D. Howe (1886-1960), who served as Canada’s minster of trade and commerce from 1948 to 1957, presided at the inaugural ceremony for that rotating swing bridge. This structure crosses... Continue Reading →
August 12, 1991 Guelatao station of the Mexico City Metro, the rapid transit system serving the metropolitan area of Mexico’s capital, first went into service. This station was one of 10 constituting Line A of the system to be opened on the same date. Line A, which is also known as the Purple Line, became... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 