Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
September 30, 2008 The Megyeri Bridge in Hungary’s capital city of Budapest was officially opened to vehicular traffic. This 6,109-foot (1,862-meter)-long bridge, which carries the M0 motorway over the River Danube, serves as a link between both of Budapest’s main sections: Buda in the western part of the city; and Pest on the eastern side.... Continue Reading →
Francisco D. Mercado, Jr., who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II, was born in East Los Angeles, California, in 1920. As a Hispanic American, he experienced one of his most egregious encounters with prejudice after graduating from high school in 1939. Having shown both a strong aptitude and interest... Continue Reading →
September 28, 1970 More than four decades after her debut, the steam-powered Australian tugboat named Forceful was officially retired from service. This seagoing vessel had been constructed by the shipbuilding company Alexander Stephen & Sons Limited and launched in Scotland in 1925. Forceful subsequently sailed from the River Clyde in Scotland to her assigned homeport... Continue Reading →
September 27, 1899 Aviation pioneer Dean Cullen Smith was born at his grandparents’ home in the city of Cove, Oregon. After graduating from high school in the Beaver State, he attended Principia College in St. Louis, Missouri, for two years. The origins of Smith’s strong interest and involvement in flight activities can be traced to... Continue Reading →
September 24, 1994 In Berlin, a rapid transit station built underneath a street known as Lindauer Allee (Avenue) was officially opened for service. Lindauer Allee station had been constructed along with three other stations as part of a 2.2-mile (3.6-kilometer)-long extension of the U8 line of the Berlin U-Bahn, a rapid transit system serving Germany’s... Continue Reading →
September 23, 1942 An airport built for use by the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) was opened in the vicinity of the city of Frederick, Oklahoma. This airport began operations nearly 10 months after the United States entered World War II on the side of the Allies. Originally called Frederick Army Airfield, it was also... Continue Reading →
In the time since she began working for Lockheed Martin Corporation as a senior systems engineer in 2006, Vanessa Aponte Williams has been significantly involved in that company’s initiatives on behalf of human spaceflight. As Lockheed Martin’s senior manager for ascent element mission operations, for example, she oversees the development of integrated systems to help... Continue Reading →
September 21, 1888 Construction began on the Cape Engaño Lighthouse in the present-day Republic of the Philippines. (At the time during which the Cape Engaño Lighthouse was built, the Philippines was a colony of Spain.) This lighthouse can be found at Cape Engaño on Palaui Island, which is located off the northeastern extremity of Luzon... Continue Reading →
September 20, 1904 Wilbur Wright made the first circular flight of a powered aircraft while piloting the Wright Flyer II plane off the ground of Huffman Prairie, a patch of rough pasture in southwestern Ohio. This flight took place 10 months after Wilbur and his brother Orville had made aviation history near the North Carolina... Continue Reading →
September 17, 1913 Automotive executive George W. Bennett died in Toledo, Ohio, at the age of 48 from complications due to appendicitis. While anything but a household name today like Henry Ford, Bennett was very much well-known in his lifetime and held in high regard. The Horseless Age: The Automobile Trade Magazine noted at the time... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 