Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Friday, September 15 marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the U.S. Here is the first of our commemorative posts of Hispanic transportation pioneers. In June 1991, Sidney M. Gutierrez became the first U.S.-born Hispanic astronaut to travel into outer space. (Franklin R. Chang Díaz, who in 1986 had become the first Hispanic-American... Continue Reading →
La Vieille lighthouse on the northwest coast of France was first lit. The stone tower is specifically located on a rock known as Gorlebella (meaning “farthest rock” in the Breton language) at the commune of Plogoff. (That commune is the department of Finistère, an administrative division of France’s Brittany region; Finistère is the Breton phrase... Continue Reading →
The Penang Bridge in the Malaysian state of Penang was officially opened to traffic. The dual carriageway toll bridge, which took about three years to build, carries traffic over the Penang Strait and links the industrial town of Perai in the Central Seberang Perai District of mainland Peninsular Malaysia with the George Town suburb of... Continue Reading →
A new main line railway in the eastern region of present-day Germany began operations. The railway line was constructed within the Kingdom of Prussia to connect the cities of Berlin and Görlitz. (Just over four years after the railway made its debut, Prussia and several other independent states came together to form the German Empire.)... Continue Reading →
Just over six months after being launched, the Japanese training sail ship Kaiwo Maru was fully completed by Sumitomo Heavy Industries. The four-masted vessel, measuring more than 361 feet in length, was built to replace a 1930 training ship bearing the same name. (The original Kaiwo Maru is now a museum ship in the Japanese... Continue Reading →
The Neiwan Line, a railway branch line in northwestern Taiwan, was completed. The line, which is run by the Taiwan Railways Administration, covers approximately 17 miles between Hsinchu City and the village of Neiwan in Hengshan Township. Notwithstanding its status as a branch line, the Neiwan Line was built to standards similar to those of... Continue Reading →
A key moment in Norway’s aviation history took place when two Norwegian Army Air Force pilots embarked on a scouting expedition to find a suitable location for a military airfield. The pilots conducted their search in the vicinity of the town of Lillestrøm in southeastern Norway. After two days of carefully surveying the region, the... Continue Reading →
Professional cyclist Sara Carrigan was born in the Australian town of Gunnedah. She began her cycling career in 1996 when she was only 15. Over the next decade or so, Carrigan established herself as a formidable cyclist in major competitions both within and beyond Australia. One of her biggest achievements took place in 2004 when... Continue Reading →
On New Zealand’s South Island, a railway between Christchurch and Dunedin made its official debut. “The opening of the Dunedin and Christchurch line, the great event of connecting the two commercial cities of the South Island by means of the iron horse, was consummated today,” announced the Wellington –based Evening post in its coverage of... Continue Reading →
Metro San Lázaro, one of the earliest stations of the Mexico City Metro rapid transit system, was opened in the Venustiano Carranza municipality in Mexico’s capital city. Metro San Lázaro is located near the permanent meeting place of the Chamber of Deputies, which is the lower house of the Mexican government’s legislative branch (Congress of... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 