Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 28, 2018 In England’s North East region, the recently completed Northern Spire Bridge within the city and metropolitan borough of Sunderland was opened to pedestrians. This two-span cable-stayed bridge carries the highway A1231 over the River Wear and serves as a link between the Sunderland suburbs of Pallion and Castletown. The 1,102-foot (336-meter)-long structure... Continue Reading →
August 17, 1903 The Great Western Railway (GWR), which originated in the 1830s and operated throughout western England as well as most of Wales, began a new type of transit option for its passengers traveling to rural areas without direct access to trains. The GWR road motor services were seen as a cheaper alternative to building... Continue Reading →
August 13, 1929 A pedestrian advocacy organization that has been not only long-lived but influential was established at a meeting at Essex Hall in London, England. The Pedestrians’ Association was formed in response to the dramatic increase in automobiles throughout England during the 1920s and the resultant road fatalities -- a large portion involving pedestrians --... Continue Reading →
August 11, 1986 Test pilot Trevor Egginton established a new speed record for conventional helicopters. He did so by reaching a speed of 249.1 miles (400.9 kilometers) per hour in a helicopter that he flew in the skies above southwestern England. Egginton was accompanied by flight test engineer Derek J. Clews. The helicopter used for... Continue Reading →
August 4, 1900 Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir, who invented the first practical and commercially successful internal combustion engine, died in the French town of La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire (near Paris) at the age of 78. Lenoir had been born in 1822 in Mussy-la-Ville, which was a community in Luxembourg at the time and is now part of Belgium. An... Continue Reading →
July 7, 1902 Two months after being christened, the sailing vessel Preußen – named in honor of the German kingdom and state of Prussia – was completed at the Joh. C. Tecklenborg shipyard in the German Empire’s seaport of Geestemünde (now part of the city of Bremerhaven in the Republic of Germany). Preußen, which is... Continue Reading →
June 30, 2004 In the Republic of Ireland, the initial stage of the Luas light rail system in and around the capital city of Dublin went into service at 3:00 p.m. (“Luas” is the Irish word for “speed.”) The first segment of Luas to open was its Green Line, which ran at the time between the suburb... Continue Reading →
June 26, 2009 The cruise ship MS Azura, which had been built by the Trieste-based company Fincantieri S.p.A. at its shipyard in the town and comune of Monfalcone in northern Italy, was launched with a great deal of fanfare. (Fincantieri is the largest shipbuilder in Europe and the fourth largest in the world.) Azura was... Continue Reading →
June 2, 1910 Charles Stewart Rolls, who had already distinguished himself in the automotive world when he cofounded the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing firm more than five years earlier, achieved another notable transportation milestone when he made the first non-stop double-crossing of the English Channel via plane. The 32-year-old Rolls piloted a Wright Flyer biplane over... Continue Reading →
May 28, 1893 A year after the Belgium-based cycling race known as Liège-Bastogne-Liège made its debut, the second edition of that one-day competition took place. The 1893 race covered a total of 155.3 miles (250 kilometers), with the course running from the city of Liège to the municipality of Bastogne and then back to Liège... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 