Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 1, 1906 A major railway tunnel in the Duchy of Carinthia, a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was officially opened. The area where this tunnel was built now traverses both the southern region of the Republic of Austria and the northern section of the Republic of Slovenia. The Karawanks Tunnel owes its name to... Continue Reading →
September 30, 2008 The Megyeri Bridge in Hungary’s capital city of Budapest was officially opened to vehicular traffic. This 6,109-foot (1,862-meter)-long bridge, which carries the M0 motorway over the River Danube, serves as a link between both of Budapest’s main sections: Buda in the western part of the city; and Pest on the eastern side.... Continue Reading →
September 24, 1994 In Berlin, a rapid transit station built underneath a street known as Lindauer Allee (Avenue) was officially opened for service. Lindauer Allee station had been constructed along with three other stations as part of a 2.2-mile (3.6-kilometer)-long extension of the U8 line of the Berlin U-Bahn, a rapid transit system serving Germany’s... Continue Reading →
September 9, 1911 The world’s first scheduled mail delivery via plane took place in England when pioneer aviator Gustav Hamel flew a Blériot XI aircraft between the Hendon airfield in north London and the Great Park (located just south of the royal residence of Windsor Castle). King George V had given permission for Hamel’s plane and... Continue Reading →
August 31, 2011 The Rędziński Bridge, which spans the section of the Oder river in the city of Wrocław in southwestern Poland, was officially opened. This cable-stayed bridge is a part of the A8 motorway, and that 16.7-mile (26.8-kilometer) route was likewise opened to vehicular traffic on the same day. With a total length of... Continue Reading →
August 26, 1901 Gentullio “Tullio” Campagnolo, who achieved widespread fame as both a racing cyclist and bicycle manufacturer, was born in the city of Vicenza in northeastern Italy. By the early 1920s, Campagnolo was regularly competing in such prestigious and difficult cycling races as the Giro di Lombardia (Tour of Lombardy) in northwestern Italy; and La... Continue Reading →
August 19, 1904 Automotive and aeronautical engineer Maurice Wilks was born on Hayling Island, which is off the southern coast of England. Wilks worked for the British automobile manufacturer Hillman Motor Car Company from 1922 to 1926 and then spent two years in the United States at General Motors. He returned to Hillman in 1928 as... Continue Reading →
July 16, 1965 The Mont Blanc Tunnel was officially dedicated. This road tunnel, which is located beneath Mont Blanc in the Alps, links the town of Chamonix in southeastern France with the resort village of Courmayeur in northwestern Italy. (Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in not only the Alps but also all of Europe.)... Continue Reading →
July 13, 1879 Civil engineer and prestressed concrete pioneer Eugène Freyssinet was born in the commune of Objat in central France. By the time that World War I broke out in 1914, Freyssinet had designed several major bridges in France. A leading example of Freyssinet’s work in those pre-war years was the Pont le Veurdre near... Continue Reading →
July 8, 1856 A railway station was opened in the hamlet of Broomielaw in northeastern England as part of the Darlington and Barnard Castle Railway’s line serving that region. Unlike the other stations along the line that were also opened at the time, Broomielaw railway station was originally not intended for public use. The facility... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 