Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
In 1980, Ming Chang was promoted to U.S. Navy rear admiral and in the process became the first naturalized Asian American to reach flag rank in that U.S. military branch. He was born on April 20, 1932, in Shanghai. His father, Yu Chin Chang, was a chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy. When he... Continue Reading →
May 29, 1884 Europe’s first cable-operated tramway was introduced to the public in north London. This .7-mile (1.1-kilometer)-long tramway ran on Highgate Hill in an area encompassing parts of both the Highgate and Archway sections of England’s capital city. While most of the line was double-tracked, about 1,000 feet (304.8 meters) of it was single-tracked. The... Continue Reading →
May 28, 1925 William M. Jardine (1879-1955), who had started serving as U.S. secretary of agriculture on March 5 of that year and would remain in the position until 1929, was a featured speaker at the Mid-West Transportation Conference in Chicago. This conference was held at the now defunct La Salle Hotel at the northwest... Continue Reading →
May 27, 2014 In the Bahamas, a newly built terminal for an airport in the town of Marsh Harbour first went into service. Marsh Harbour, which is located on Great Abaco Island (the largest of the country’s Abaco Islands), has achieved renown over the years as a major tourist attraction. “The 46,000 square foot [4,300... Continue Reading →
May 23, 1891 In the Wisconsin city of Superior (at the western end of Lake Superior), the whaleback freighter SS Charles W. Wetmore was launched at the shipyard of entrepreneur and Great Lakes captain Alexander McDougall’s American Steel Barge Company. This vessel was the latest of the whaleback freighters originally conceived by McDougall. These cargo... Continue Reading →
For more than two decades now, systems engineer Josephine Santiago-Bond has made significant contributions to NASA in the development of its space exploration technologies. She was born to Filipino parents who were pursuing their doctorate studies in the United States at the time. When she was just a few months old, Josephine -- along with... Continue Reading →
May 21, 2018 Operations officially began for an airport rail link in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. This transit service was inaugurated by Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (born in 1961), who was president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. The link was built to reduce travel time between Padang, West Sumatra’s capital and largest city;... Continue Reading →
May 20, 2022 A streetcar line in central Arizona’s city of Tempe was opened for regular operations. This transit system is operated by the Valley Metro regional Public Transportation Authority (better known as Valley Metro), which serves that area of the Grand Canyon State. Construction on the Valley Metro Streetcar -- also called the Tempe... Continue Reading →
May 19, 1950 A drive-in theater in Dearborn, Michigan, officially opened for business on a rainy Friday night. This theater, known as Ford-Wyoming Drive-In, was initially able to accommodate up to 750 automobiles. Despite the rain on its inaugural night, the theater’s lot was filled to capacity. The double feature that night was The Man... Continue Reading →
May 16, 2009 In northern England’s borough of Stockton-on-Tees, a bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists was opened to the general public. This 787-foot (240-meter)-long structure, which crosses the River Tees, was both named and modeled after the ∞ symbol representing infinity. The Infinity Bridge was built in such a way that the combination of this... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 