Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
September 30, 1911 Cromwell Dixon became the first person to fly across the mountainous Continental Divide. The 19-year-old Dixon, who received his air pilot license only the previous month, had well-established credentials when it came to transportation pursuits. As a boy, for example, he constructed a rollercoaster for the kids in his neighborhood. Dixon was... Continue Reading →
September 27, 1938 The steam-powered ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth, constructed by the shipbuilding firm John Brown & Company for Cunard-White Star Line (renamed Cunard Line in 1949), was launched at a shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland. This ocean liner was named for the wife of England’s King George VI and queen consort of the United Kingdom... Continue Reading →
Horacio Rivero, Jr., who was born in 1910 in the city of Ponce on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, earned renown as one of the U.S. Navy’s highest-ranking Hispanic American pioneers. In 1927, he received an appointment to attend the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA). Rivero graduated from the USNA in 1931, standing third in... Continue Reading →
September 25, 1982 The Edna Sayers Bridge, consisting of both a cycleway and pedestrian bridge, made its debut in the Central Coast region of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). This structure spans across Saltwater Creek in the suburb of Long Jetty, and it was named in honor of a widely acclaimed cyclist.... Continue Reading →
John J. Herrera, an attorney who fought long and hard for the civil rights of Mexican Americans, was born in Cravens, Louisiana, in 1910 to Antonia Jiménez and Juan José Herrera. While best known for helping to win one landmark case that declared school segregation of Hispanics illegal and an equally ground-breaking case which ruled the... Continue Reading →
September 23, 1913 French aviator Roland Garros established two new airborne records when he successfully undertook the longest overseas plane trip up to that point in time and also became the first person to fly across the Mediterranean Sea. The 24-year-old pilot, flying on his own in a two-seat Morane-Saulnier G monoplane, departed the Fréjus... Continue Reading →
September 20, 1910 The ocean liner SS France, which sailed for the French shipping company Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (CGT), was launched into the River Loire at Saint-Nazaire, France. Approximately 2,000 people were on hand to witness the ship’s grand debut. The France, measuring 712 feet (217 meters) in length, became one of the fastest and... Continue Reading →
José M. Cabanillas, whose longtime U.S. Navy career included service in two wars, was born in 1901 in the city of Mayagüez in western Puerto Rico. In 1920, he received an appointment to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. After graduating in 1924, Cabanillas was commissioned an ensign in the Navy. Over the next several years,... Continue Reading →
September 18, 1899 The Gyeongin Line, the first railway built on the Korean peninsula, was opened after two-and-a-half years of construction. The initial segment of the line, covering approximately 21 miles (33.8 kilometers) in what is now the northwestern region of South Korea, linked the capital city of Seoul with the port city of Jemulpo (present-day... Continue Reading →
In 2018, Serena Maria Auñón-Chancellor became only the second woman of Hispanic descent to fly into outer space. (Ellen Ochoa, who is of Mexican descent, made her first spaceflight in 1993.) Auñón-Chancellor (she pronounces Auñón as ON-un) was born in Indianapolis in 1976. Her father, Dr. Jorge Auñón, is a Cuban exile who arrived in... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 