Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 6, 1989 In the municipality of Tavros in Greece, operations began for a station built as a link in the rapid transit system serving the city of Athens and other parts of the country’s region of Attica. This station, which is on Line 1 of the Athens Metro, was named after both the municipality... Continue Reading →
February 4, 2006 In northwestern Italy’s city of Turin, operations began for rapid transit station at the public square known as Piazza Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The station was one of 11 that constituted the inaugural segment of the Turin Metro, an automated public transportation system that is operated by the state-owned corporation Gruppo Torinese Trasporti.... Continue Reading →
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 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 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 15, 1961 Italy’s Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport, located about 19 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Rome in the town of Fiumicino, was officially opened. This international airport, which replaced Rome Ciampino Airport as the region’s main airport, was named in honor of someone regarded by many as the ultimate Renaissance man. Italian polymath... Continue Reading →
January 13, 1902 John Keen, an internationally renowned English cyclist, died of tuberculosis at the age of 52 in the London-area community of Finchley. “A CHAMPION’S DEMISE,” announced a headline in the next day’s edition of the London-based Echo newspaper. Keen, who started out life in 1849 in the English village of Broadway, was a carpenter... Continue Reading →
January 9, 1916 SS Duilio was launched at the Ansaldo Shipyard in the city of Genoa in northwestern Italy. This ship was the first Italian super ocean liner and ultimately became one of that country’s largest vessels. The Duilio was built for use by the Italian shipping company Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI). The vessel’s name was... Continue Reading →
January 8, 1867 George Pilkington Mills, who earned acclaim as a formidable competitor in races involving various modes of transportation, was born in Paddington (an area in the City of Westminster within central London). Mills firmly established himself as the preeminent English racing cyclist of his generation. He set numerous racing records on both bicycles... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 