Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 30, 2003 An arch bridge in northern Portugal’s Porto metropolitan area was inaugurated. This 1,217-foot (371-meter)-long bridge spans the river Douro and carries both vehicular and pedestrian traffic between the city of Porto and the city and municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia. The bridge was named after Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), the... Continue Reading →
March 27, 1980 A concept car built by British manufacturer Aston Martin was formally introduced to the public at the Bell Hotel in southeastern England’s village and civil parish of Aston Clinton. (Concept cars are automobiles created to exhibit new styling or innovative technologies; these vehicles are often displayed at motor shows.) The concept car... Continue Reading →
March 24, 2011 The Arganzuela Footbridge in the central area of Madrid, Spain, was opened to the public. This bridge, which took about 14 months to build, serves as a link between the Arganzuela and Carabanchel districts of Spain’s capital and most populous city. French architect and urban planner Dominique Perrault (born in 1953)... Continue Reading →
March 19, 1964 The Great St Bernard Tunnel joining Switzerland and Italy was officially opened to vehicular traffic. This tunnel became the first one running through the formidable Alps for automobiles, and it is a major link between the municipality of Martigny in southwestern Switzerland and the comune of Aosta in northwestern Italy. The tunnel... Continue Reading →
March 10, 1906 SS Viper was launched at the shipyard of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (widely known as Fairfields) in the Scottish burgh of Govan. (Six years later, Govan was annexed as part of the city of Glasgow.) This steel, triple-screw, turbine-driven was built at Govan by Fairfields for use by the maritime transportation... Continue Reading →
March 4, 1937 After five weeks of crew training at a depot in the Scottish city of Glasgow, the prototype of the Class K4 locomotive of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) made its public debut as a self-propelled vehicle for passenger trains. This prototype constituted what became a new class of 2-6-0 steam... Continue Reading →
February 26, 2021 A little over a month after being launched, the expeditionary survey boat HNLMS Hydrograaf (H8021) was commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy. This commissioning was carried out via video call by Barbara Visser (born in 1977), who became the Dutch government’s state secretary for defense in October 2017 and served in this... Continue Reading →
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 →
Transportation History 