Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 30, 2019 The Ryfylke Tunnel in western Norway’s Rogaland county was officially opened to traffic. This tunnel -- encompassing one tube for each direction and two vehicular lanes in each of those tubes -- carries Norwegian National Road 13 under a body of water called Horgefjord (part of the vast fjord known as Boknafjord).... Continue Reading →
December 29, 1933 With New Year’s Eve fast approaching, it was definitely a case of “out with the old, in with the new” on the southwest tip of the Hawaiian island of Oahu due to the replacement of one lighthouse with another there. (At the time, Hawaii was a U.S. territory; it became the 50th... Continue Reading →
December 28, 1894 In the town of Cromer on England’s eastern coast, an 18-year-old local resident named Henry Blogg first saw action at sea as a member of the crew of RNLB (Royal National Lifeboat) Benjamin Bond Cabbell II. Blogg had actually joined that crew nearly a year earlier, but it was that holiday-season mission... Continue Reading →
December 27, 1893 A pivotal test ride took place for a newly completed truss railroad bridge in eastern-central Missouri. This four-span truss bridge, crossing the Missouri River at Bellefontaine Bluffs and serving as a link between Charles County and St. Louis County in the Show-Me State, had been built for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy... Continue Reading →
December 23, 2018 A dedication ceremony was held for the first section of a light rail transit (LRT) system in Taiwan. This system was built to provide greater access to Danhai New Town, a large residential development of Tamsui District in New Taipei City. Danhai light rail, which is operated by New Taipei Metro Corporation... Continue Reading →
December 22, 1956 The first tourist flight to Antarctica took place. The plane used for this trailblazing airborne journey was a DC6B plane of Linea Aerea Nacional (LAN), which was the flag carrier of Chile at that time and is now known as LATAM Chile. United Press (since renamed United Press International) reported a few... Continue Reading →
December 21, 1926 The Ross Island Bridge in Portland, Oregon, was opened in what the Associated Press (AP) called “a fitting dedicatory ceremony.” This cantilever truss bridge, which carries U.S. Route 26 (Mount Hood Highway) across a section of the Willamette River between the southwest and southeast parts of Portland, is approximately 800 feet... Continue Reading →
December 20, 1984 The Polanco Station on Line 7 of the Mexico City Metro first went into service. (The Mexico City Metro, which is operated by the Sistems de Transporte Colectivo [STC], is a rapid transit system serving the metropolitan area of Mexico’s capital; it ranks second only to the New York City Subway as... Continue Reading →
December 19, 1946 In the South Pacific, an airfield on the island of Viti Levu in what was then the British colony of Fiji was handed over by the U.S. military to civilian control under the auspices of the New Zealand government. (New Zealand had likewise been a British colony until gaining semi-independent status as... Continue Reading →
December 16, 2019 A total of three monorail train stations were formally opened on Line 15 (Silver) in São Paulo, which is Brazil’s most populous city and the capital of the state of São Paulo. The facilities inaugurated on that day were the stations São Mateus, Sapopemba, and Fazenda da Juta. The public officials taking... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 