Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 11, 2018 In the Republic of Ireland, an offshore patrol vessel built by Babcock Marine in England’s ceremonial county of Devon was delivered to the Irish Naval Service at its base on the island of Haulbowline in Cork Harbour. This vessel was named after George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), a world-renowned Irish playwright whose works... Continue Reading →
October 9, 1890 French inventor and engineer Clément Ader made aviation history when he attempted to fly a steam-powered aircraft that he had built. This aircraft was named the Éole in honor of Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the winds, and it featured wings resembling those of a bat. Ader tested his flying machine just... Continue Reading →
October 3, 1906 In southwestern England, a road-rail swing bridge crossing the River Avon in Bristol -- a city, ceremonial county, and unitary authority -- first went into service. The Ashton Avenue Bridge was built as a key part of the Bristol Harbour Railway, a longtime transportation link for Bristol’s docks and wharves. Alfred John... Continue Reading →
September 28, 2022 Bródno station on Line M2 of the Warsaw Metro rapid transit underground system first went into service. This station, which marks the eastern terminus of that line, is located in the vicinity of Kondratowicza, Rembielińska, and Bazyliańska Streets in the Bródno neighborhood of Poland’s capital city. Construction on the station began in... Continue Reading →
September 26, 2009 More than a quarter-century after its operations were halted, the trolleybus system in the city and commune (municipality) of Chieti in central Italy was brought back into service. The following month, Omar Cugini reported on this milestone was in the Rome-based magazine TheCommuter: News from the World of Mobility and Public Transport.... Continue Reading →
September 25, 2009 In the northernmost region of Norway, a terminal at the airport serving the town and municipality of Alta was officially inaugurated. This dedication ceremony took place a little over a month after the terminal had first been opened for public use. Alta Airport first went into service on May 4, 1963, with... Continue Reading →
September 18, 1896 Edward Orpen Moriarty, a civil engineer who had undertaken a wide range of public works projects across the globe, died in the community of Southsea within the city and unitary authority of Portsmouth in southeastern England. He was 71. Moriarty was born on October 11, 1824, in County Kerry in southwestern Ireland.... Continue Reading →
September 12, 1906 The Newport Transporter Bridge, which crosses the River Usk in the city of Newport in southeastern Wales, was officially opened. This structure is only one of a dozen transporter bridges still in existence today -- a movable bridge that carries a segment of a roadway over a river that other types of... Continue Reading →
September 8, 1966 A dedication ceremony was held for a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between England and Wales. The Severn Bridge, which connects the unitary authority area (local government seat) of South Gloucestershire in England with the County of Monmouthsire in Wales, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Measuring about a mile... Continue Reading →
September 5, 1862 English meteorologists James Glaisher (1809-1903) and Henry Tracey Coxwell (1819-1900) set a new record in altitude for human flights when they soared in a balloon far above Stafford Road Gasworks in the then-borough of Wolverhampton, England. The intent of that flight was to examine what happened to water vapor as it rose into... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 