Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 26, 1925 In the southeast region of Virginia, Captain Albert F. Jester launched a then-innovative type of ferry service on the James River between the community of Scotland in Surry County on the southern bank and historic Jamestown Island (site of the first permanent English settlement in the Americas) in James City County on... Continue Reading →
February 25, 1832 The first railroad charter in Canada came into existence when the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad (C&SL) was incorporated. The C&SL was not only Canada’s first public railroad but also one of the earliest railroads to be built in all of North America. Construction on the C&SL began in 1835. This railroad was... Continue Reading →
In the summer of 2006, Stephanie Diana Wilson became the second African American woman to fly into outer space. (The first African American woman to do so was Mae Jemison, who made that pioneering flight in 1992.) Wilson has also achieved another distinction during her NASA career. She has spent more time in outer space... Continue Reading →
February 23, 1910 A new trolley system serving the city of Johnstown in Pennsylvania’s Cambria County was incorporated. The Johnstown Traction Company (JTC) took over the street railway operations of the Johnstown Passenger Railway Passenger Railway Company, which had been launched in 1883 to provide horse car services. (In the wake of the historic flood six... Continue Reading →
February 22, 1861 Edward Payson Weston began a 478-mile (769.3-kilometer) trip from the Massachusetts State House in Boston to Washington, D.C., to attend Abraham Lincoln’s first presidential inauguration – and he did so using only his two feet for transportation. The 21-year-old Weston undertook this ambitious trip in the first place because of a bet he... Continue Reading →
Victoria Sheehan, who has served as commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation since October 2015, was elected president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in October 2020. Sheehan is the second woman to serve as president of AASHTO in its 107-year history. AASHTO’s first female president was Susan... Continue Reading →
February 19, 1973 Boa Vista International Airport in Brazil was opened. This airport serves Boa Vista, the capital of the northern Brazilian state of Roraima. Boa Vista is also the only state capital in Brazil that is located entirely north of the equator. The airport has the distinction of being the northernmost Brazilian airport that handles scheduled... Continue Reading →
February 18, 1907 The U.S. Congress approved a measure allowing the Maryland-based Washington, Spa Spring and Gretta Electric Railroad (WSSGRR) to extend its streetcar operations into Washington, D.C. This act cleared the way for the last new streetcar company of the era to provide transit services in Washington, D.C., and the plan was to build the... Continue Reading →
On February 10, 1896, the only station of the U.S. Life-Saving Service (USLSS) with an all-African American crew at that time undertook one of its many vital rescue missions in the stormy waters along and near Pea Island within the Outer Banks of North Carolina. At around 3:30 in the morning and in the midst... Continue Reading →
February 16, 1843 Henry Martyn Leland, who would leave an indelible mark on the American automobile industry, was born in northeastern Vermont. As a young man, he worked as for the renowned tools manufacturer Brown & Sharp in Providence, Rhode Island. That job and others helped Leland refine a wide range of mass-production and mechanical... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 