Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
SMS Novara, an Austrian Navy frigate, completed one of the more significant circumnavigations of the 19th century. The ship’s historic journey began on April 30, 1857, and it had the distinction of being the first round-the-world voyage undertaken by the Austrian Empire. The Novara Expedition was a large-scale scientific mission authorized by Archduke Maximilian, the younger... Continue Reading →
The Buenos Aires Western Railway was inaugurated in what was then the State of Buenos Aires. This railway was the first one to be built anywhere in present-day Argentina and helped set the stage over the next several decades for an extensive public transit network in that part of the world. (The republic known as... Continue Reading →
Professional road bicycle racer Roger Pingeon was born in the commune of Hauteville-Lompnes in eastern France. As a teenager, Pingeon initially took up cross-country skiing as his favorite means of mobility and recreational activity. He eventually refocused his time and attention on bicycling instead. Pingeon developed a strong interest in a career in bicycle racing... Continue Reading →
Inoue Masaru, who became known as the Father of the Japanese Railways for his contributions to transit services, was born in the city of Hagi on Japan’s main island of Honshu. In 1863, Inoue – along with four other students from the region of Honshu that was then known as the Chōshū Domain (a feudal... Continue Reading →
Luis Piedrabuena, who became a maritime legend, was born in the Argentine port city of Carmen de Patagones. He developed a deep interest in the sea at an early age, and three mariners each played a key role in encouraging that interest. One of these men was Welsh-born Captain James Harris, a family friend, and... Continue Reading →
A new lighthouse made its formal debut in Western Australia. Woodman Point Lighthouse (originally called Gage Roads Lighthouse), which is located on Woodman Point in the City of Cockburn, was built to help safely guide vessels sailing into the area’s large and busy port of Fremantle Harbour. “The light will be visible from the bridge... Continue Reading →
The Tjeldsund Bridge in northern Norway made its debut. The 3,304-foot-long suspension road bridge, which has 32 spans altogether, crosses the Tjeldsundet strait between the municipalities of Skånland on the mainland and Harstad on the island of Hinnøya. The Tjeldsund Bridge took 30 months to build, with 112,000 bags of cement and 1,200 tons of... Continue Reading →
Automobile manufacturer Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti died at age of 65 in the French commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine in the Paris region. Bugatti had been born in Milan, Italy, in 1881. At a young age, Bugatti demonstrated a strong aptitude when it came to constructing motor vehicles. He was only 17, for example, when he built... Continue Reading →
A new railway bridge, crossing the Rhine between the city of Waldshut (present-day Waldshut-Tiengen) in the Kingdom of Württemberg (now part of southwestern Germany) and the community of Koblenz in northern Switzerland, was officially opened. The Waldshut-Koblenz Rhine Bridge, which was built to carry the Turgi-Koblenz-Waldshut Railway over one of Europe’s major rivers, had the... Continue Reading →
Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, who established himself as one of Argentina’s most celebrated racing car drivers, was born in the Buenos Aires suburb of Caballito. In 1934, Gálvez’s interest in automobiles led him to buy a Model T Ford with money that he earned while working in his father’s engineering workshop. Another and arguably even bigger... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 