Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 17, 1817 In the northern region of the present-day Republic of Ireland, a new lighthouse first went into service at the end of a peninsula known as Fanad. (At that time, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged together as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; this sovereign state remained... Continue Reading →
In 1922, Brazilian airplane pilot Anésia Pinheiro Machado was granted Brevet No. 77 from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (the international regulatory organization for flying). This certification, which was specifically given to Machado by Aeroclube do Brasil, made her only the second licensed female pilot in Brazil. (The first woman in Brazil to earn such a... Continue Reading →
In the spirit of the female African-American mathematicians whose efforts to strengthen and advance the U.S. space program despite discrimination are depicted in the movie Hidden Figures, Raye Jean Jordan Montague played an important if often overlooked pioneering role when it came to military seacraft. Montague, who was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1935,... Continue Reading →
March 12, 1910 The first steel bridge in the present-day Republic of Singapore made its official debut. (At that time, Singapore was part of the British territories collectively known as the Straits Settlements.) The dignitaries attending the Saturday opening ceremony for the bridge included Sir John Anderson, for whom the new structure was named. Anderson... Continue Reading →
March 11, 1937 The Indiana state legislature passed a measure authorizing the Indiana State Highway Commission to work with Purdue University on methods to further improve and better maintain highways throughout the Hoosier State. (The Indiana State Highway Commission, which was established in 1917, remained in existence until being replaced by the Indiana Department of... Continue Reading →
March 10, 1985 A major breakthrough – both literal and figurative – took place for the construction of the Seikan Tunnel in Japan when the entire tunnel was finally opened from one end to another. This long-awaited boring through of the tunnel was made possible after Tokuo Yamashita, Japan’s minister of transport, detonated a dynamite... Continue Reading →
March 9, 1985 James Evans, an engineer with the Texas Department of Transportation, spearheaded the effort to keep the roadways around his Tyler, Texas community clean of litter. He'd noticed trash flying out of the back of a pickup truck and decided to take action. Initially, he approached civic and community groups to volunteer to... Continue Reading →
March 6, 1965 Commander James R. Williford and his crew took off from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet on a record-setting non-stop helicopter flight across the country. The Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King helicopter was named Dawdling Dromedary, and Williford, Lieutenant David A. Beil, and Aviation Machinist Mate 1st Class Paul J. Bert began... Continue Reading →
March 5, 1919 Finland’s Helsinki Central railway station was officially opened. This structure replaced a station that had been built in 1862 but was no longer large enough to accommodate the ever-growing number of trains and passengers. The new and larger station was designed by architect Eliel Saarinen, whose proposed plans were selected from a total... Continue Reading →
March 4, 2000 In the downtown area of Daytona Beach in Florida’s Volusia County, construction began on a new and unique segmental bridge to carry U.S. Highway 92 over the Halifax River (part of the Intracoastal Waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States). This structure was the third one... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 