Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 17, 1813 A newly completed lighthouse on Inishtrahull Island, which is about five nautical miles (t0 kilometers) off the coast of County Donegal in Ireland, first went into service. Inishtrahull Lighthouse was designed by renowned civil engineer George Halpini Sr., who had been appointed inspector of lighthouse for the Dublin Ballast Board in 1810.... Continue Reading →
On January 15, 2009, New York Waterway ferry captain and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) reservist Brittany Catanzaro and her crew played a crucial lifesaving role for the passengers of an Airbus A320 after that plane had made an emergency landing on the Hudson River. This landing was made necessary because the aircraft (US Airways Flight... Continue Reading →
March 15, 1941 The first flight of Philippine Air Lines (PAL), a flag carrier for the Philippines, took place when a twin-engine, five-seater Beechcraft Model 18 NPC-54 plane departed from Nielson Field in the city of Makati for Baguio City. (Both of these cities are on the Filipino island of Luzon). This flight occurred a... Continue Reading →
March 14, 1918 The first seagoing American ship made out of concrete was introduced. This ship, a steamer called SS Faith, was launched from Redwood City, California. Concrete ships had been around since 1848, when one was built in France. In addition, the first ocean-worthy vessel of that type made her debut in Norway in 1917. SS... Continue Reading →
March 11, 1886 A bicycle club known as the Atalanta Wheelmen was launched in the city of Newark, New Jersey, with a total of 10 charter members. The organizational meeting for the new club took place at the home of Arthur W. Snow. “After much palaver a club was formed, but, as is usually the case,... Continue Reading →
March 10, 1879 A closely watched six-day walking competition in New York City commenced at one o’clock on that Monday morning with thousands of spectators in attendance. This competition took place at Gilmore’s Garden, which was renamed Madison Square Garden later that year. The building was the largest arena in the United States at the... Continue Reading →
March 9, 1986 A newly built bus interchange first went into service in the community of Paradise in the Australian state of South Australia (SA). Paradise Interchange, which is located 3.7 miles (six kilometers) from the central section of SA’s capital city of Adelaide, had been officially dedicated a week earlier. John Bannon, who served... Continue Reading →
Blanche Stuart Scott, who made notable contributions involving two modes of transportation, was born in Rochester, New York, in1885. She developed a strong interest in automobiles early on in life. In 1910, Scott became only the second woman -- after Alice Huyler Ramsey -- to drive one of those vehicles from one coast to another within... Continue Reading →
March 7, 1889 Pioneering naval aviator Godfrey de Courcelles Chevalier was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1910 and then embarked on a comparatively short-lived but significant aviation career. Chevalier, who would be described in one news account as “one of the navy’s most daring aviators,” took to the... Continue Reading →
March 4, 1890 Scotland’s Forth Bridge, spanning across the estuary Firth of Forth, made its official debut. This cantilever railway bridge was built to carry two tracks of the North British Railway through a stretch of territory between the city of Edinburgh and the council area of Firth. The Forth Bridge -- also known as the Forth... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 