Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 14, 1890 In the Philippines, Cape Santiago Lighthouse on the island of Luzon first went into service. This lighthouse is specifically located on Cape Santiago in Calatagan, a municipality that is about 81 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of Manila, in the Province of Batangas. Cape Santiago Lighthouse helps guide vessels traveling through the strait... Continue Reading →
December 13, 1881 A 207-foot (63-meter)-tall electric light tower built at the intersection of Santa Clara and Market Streets in downtown San Jose, California, was officially dedicated. The major force who proposed the installation of this tower in the first place was James Jerome Owen (1827-1895), publisher of the San Jose Mercury (precursor of the... Continue Reading →
December 12, 2022 A high-speed railway in the southeastern part of Norway was formally opened. This railway covers 14 miles (22 kilometers) altogether between Oslo, Norway’s capital and most populous city; and Ski, a town in the municipality of Nordre Follo in the district of Follo. Harald V (born in 1937), who has reigned as... Continue Reading →
December 11, 1866 In Denmark, the shipping business DFDS was established as a merger of that nation’s three largest steamship companies. Those three companies were brought together as a single entity under the leadership of renowned industrialist and financier Carl Frederik Tietgen (1829-1901), who played a key role in the economic growth and prosperity of Denmark... Continue Reading →
December 8, 1984 A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit station was opened in the city of Cambridge in the Greater Boston metropolitan area. This station is located at the intersection of of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues in Cambridge’s Porter Square neighborhood. Porter station serves the Red Line, one of MBTA’s rapid transit lines; the... Continue Reading →
December 7, 1953 A new version of the Chamberlain Bridge in South Dakota was dedicated. This structure spans Lake Francis Case, an artificial reservoir that is impounded by Fort Randall Dam on the Missouri River, and it connects the city of Chamberlain in Brule County with the town of Oacoma in Lyman County. The present-day... Continue Reading →
December 6, 1913 The steam ferry Leschi was launched from Rainier Beach on Lake Washington, a large freshwater lake adjacent to Seattle. Chief Leschi (1808-1858), for whom this vessel was named, served as the leader of the Nisqually Indian Tribe in the vicinity of Puget Sound in present-day Washington State. The ferry Leschi had the... Continue Reading →
December 5, 2020 In the Canadian province of Ontario, an intercity bus terminal in the downtown section of Toronto was officially opened. The Union Station Bus Terminal (USBT), which is operated by the government-owned company Metrolinx, is connected via pedestrian walkways to Union Station (a major railway facility and Canada’s busiest transportation hub). USBT serves... Continue Reading →
December 4, 2007 A newly built tunnel in northeastern Spain’s autonomous community of Catalonia was inaugurated. This 3.3-mile (5.3-kilometer)-long tunnel is actually the second of two tunnels that are part of the N-230 road and connect the municipality of Vielha e Mijaran, capital of the administrative entity of Aran, with the comarca (administrative division) of... Continue Reading →
December 1, 1863 In the east-central section of New Zealand’s South Island, a railway line between the city of Christchurch and its suburb of Ferrymead in the Canterbury Region first went into service. Several days later, the area newspaper known as the Press confirmed “that the Ferrymead Railway was opened for traffic, with a general... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 