Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 13, 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) signed into law a bill changing the name of South B Street in Washington, D.C., to Independence Avenue. This redesignation took place a little over three years after Roosevelt’s predecessor Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) signed into law the bill changing the name of North B Street to Constitution... Continue Reading →
April 10, 1926 The motor yacht Siele launched at the Pusey and Jones Corporation’s shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware. This vessel was designed by naval architect B.T. Dobson and built by Pusey and Jones for Detroit-area resident and banker John H. French (1881-1952). At the time, he was serving as both president of the French Investment... Continue Reading →
April 9, 1906 In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), a dedication ceremony was held for the McFarlane Bridge in the town of Maclean. The bridge, which was designed by civil engineer Ernest de Burgh (1863-1929), carries Lawerence Road across the south arm of the Clarence River. This structure provides a key transportation... Continue Reading →
April 8, 1956 In the Brazilian state of Paranã, operations began for a newly relocated airport about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the downtown section of the city of Londrina. This milestone took place two decades after Londrina Airport had first gone into service with an unpaved runway in the city’s Vila Isabel neighborhood. The... Continue Reading →
April 7, 1947 Ellis Dexter Atwood (1889-1950) completed construction on the Edaville Railroad on his 1,800-acre (278.4-hectare) cranberry farm in the Massachusetts village of South Carver on the inland end of Cape Cod. (The “EDA” in “Edaville” came from his initials.) That two-foot (0.6-meter) narrow gauge line is widely considered to be the world’s first tourist... Continue Reading →
April 6, 1956 An arch bridge in what was then known as the Federation of Malaya was officially opened. At the time, this country in Southeast Asia was a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom. The steadily gathering momentum for a fully independent Federation of Malaya was reflected in the name of the new bridge.... Continue Reading →
April 3, 2011 On the South Side of Chicago, operations began for a passenger train station built on 35th Street in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood. This station is part of the Metra commuter rail system’s Rock Island District line. The station was officially named not only for the street and neighborhood where it is located... Continue Reading →
April 2, 1966 In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), a dedication ceremony was held for a prestressed concrete box girder bridge carrying Warringah Road (now part of the route known as A38) across Middle Harbour. This six-lane, high-level structure is called the Roseville Bridge. Measuring 1,237 feet (377 meters) in length, it... Continue Reading →
April 1, 2013 Operations began for Pedro Mir station on Line 2 of the Santo Domingo Metro, a rapid transit system in the metropolitan region of the Dominican Republic’s capital city. The station was one of 13 opened as part of the inaugural segment of that line. Pedro Mir station was built underneath Avenida John... Continue Reading →
For nearly 15 years, Sarah A. Cleverly Atwood (1837-1920) was part of a select few among American women who served as lighthouse keepers during the 19th century. She was born in the town of Wellfleet on Cape Cod in southeastern Massachusetts. Her parents were William Cleverly (1797-1887) and Hannah Pierce Cleverly (1808-1893). On February 4,... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 