Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
During World War II, Thomas “Tom” Oxendine became the first Native American to be commissioned as a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Oxendine was a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Most of the members of this tribe have lived in Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke, and Scotland counties in North Carolina. Oxendine was born... Continue Reading →
November 29, 1987 In the Republic of Singapore, the first part of a major bus station was officially opened in the planning area and residential town of Tampines in the East Region of that Southeast Asian city-state. The Tampines Bus Interchange (TBI) had been built in response to the steadily growing population in that section... Continue Reading →
November 24, 1998 The Manakamana Cable Car service in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal was inaugurated. This gondola lift transportation system had been imported from Austria. (In that type of gondola lift transportation system, airborne cars supported and propelled by cables from above are used to carry passengers from one point to another.) The... Continue Reading →
In 2020, Neilson Powless became the first Native American from the United States to compete in the Tour de France. As a child, he had first aspired to take part in that prestigious multiple-stage bicycle race. “It was so exotic and powerful that even before I turned 10, I dreamed of one day competing in... Continue Reading →
November 22, 1990 The Křižíkova station of the rapid transit system known as the Prague Metro was officially opened. As the time, Prague was the capital of Czechoslovakia. The longtime communist rule in Czechoslovakia had ended about a year earlier, and in 1993, that country would be split into the independent states of Slovakia and... Continue Reading →
November 19, 2018 In northern India, the second and final segment of the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE) in the country’s state of Haryana was officially opened to traffic. This expressway measures 84.3 miles (135.6 kilometers) altogether in length and encompasses a total of six lanes (three in each direction). Both WPE and the 84-mile (135-kilometer)-long... Continue Reading →
Susan La Flesche Picotte was the first known Native American in the United States to receive a medical degree as a doctor. A crucial component of Picotte’s pioneering medical career was her heavy reliance on transportation for visiting patients in far-flung locations. Picotte was born in 1865 on the Omaha Reservation of the Omaha tribe... Continue Reading →
November 17, 1913 The Eighth Street Bridge in Allentown, Pennsylvania, was formally opened to traffic. At the time of its debut, this 17-arch structure -- measuring 2,650 feet (810 meters) in length and 138 feet (42 meters) in height -- was the world’s longest and highest concrete bridge. This bridge came into existence because the Lehigh... Continue Reading →
November 16, 1860 The first permanent lighthouse on the western coast of Canada made its debut just off Vancouver Island, which was a separate British colony at the time and not yet integrated with British Columbia as a single government unit. Fisgard Lighthouse, located at the narrow entrance to Esquimalt Harbor on the island’s southern... Continue Reading →
November 15, 1947 Standiford Field airport in Louisville, Kentucky, was opened for commercial flights, replacing Bowman Field as the main airport for the Bluegrass State’s largest city. Bowman Field had been providing plane flights for passengers since 1924. With the introduction of passenger services at Standiford Field, just about all of the commercial airline operations... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 