Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
January 30, 2015 Only a dozen days after his 92nd birthday, road cyclist Gerardus “Gerrit” Petrus Voorting died at his home in the municipality and town of Heemskerk in the Netherlands. Voorting, who had been born in the Dutch municipality of Velsen, began his cycling career in 1947. His younger brother Adrianus “Adri” Voorting (1931-1961)... Continue Reading →
January 29, 1914 Fred L. Baker (1872-1927) was a long way from his hometown of Los Angeles, but he had had an important reason for being in New York City on a Thursday in January. As president of the Automobile Club of Southern California -- an affiliate of the federation of motor clubs of the... Continue Reading →
January 28, 1978 Operations began for St. Clair West station on the Yonge-University-Spadina Line (now called Line 1 Yonge-University) of the Toronto subway system. This station, which spans the block north of St. Clair Avenue West, was built as part of the 6.2-mile (9.9-kilometer) line extension between St. George and Wilson stations. St. Clair West... Continue Reading →
January 27, 1909 Garlandstone, a ketch (two-masted sailboat), was launched in southwestern England. In a 1996 edition of the London-based Guardian, author Virginia Spiers highlighted Garlandstone in the daily column A Country Diary. “This handsome merchant vessel was built on the [River Tamar], built by James Goss in his yard on the Devon bank opposite... Continue Reading →
January 26, 1830 On Scotland’s northeastern coast, a lighthouse on the Tarbat Ness headland first went into service. (Tarbat is derived from “tairbeart,” a Gaelic word for “isthmus”; “ness” is an Old Norse term for “headland.”) This structure was designed by the renowned civil engineer Robert Stevenson for the Northern Lighthouse Board (the general lighthouse... Continue Reading →
January 23, 1855 A suspension bridge across the Mississippi River was officially opened in what was then the U.S. Territory of Minnesota. (This portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Minnesota in 1858; the territory’s western region was eventually reorganized as part of the Territory of Dakota.) The bridge, which... Continue Reading →
January 22, 2015 In South Korea’s northeastern area, operations began for a scenic tourist train in Jeongseon County in the state of Gangwon-do. This premium transit service, which is run by the Korea Railroad Corporation (branded as Korail), is popularly known as the A-Train; its full name is the Jeongseon Arirang A-Train. Arirang is a... Continue Reading →
January 21, 1945 In the final year of World War II, a U.S. Navy transport ship was launched in a Sunday ceremony at a Kaiser Shipbuilding yard in Richmond, California. This ship was named after Andre Walker Brewster (1862-1942), a U.S. Army major general and Medal of Honor recipient. Walker’s noteworthy assignments during his long... Continue Reading →
January 20, 1995 A cable-stayed road bridge in northwestern France’s Normandy region first went into service. The Pont de Normandie (Normandy Bridge) spans the river Seine and connects the commune of Honfleur with the major port city of Le Havre. This bridge has the distinction of being the last bridge to cross the Seine before... Continue Reading →
January 16, 1902 A newly completed bridge in Bangkok, the capital of the Southeast Asian country known at the time as Siam, was formally opened. (Siam was the official name of present-day Thailand until 1939 and then between 1946 and 1948.) Construction of the bridge was commissioned in 1901 by Valaya Alongkorn (1884-1938), a princess... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 