Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 23, 1906 Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont made the first sustained and officially witnessed flight in a powered heavier-than-air machine in Europe when he piloted his 14-bis biplane in Paris, France. Santos-Dumont came from a family of wealthy coffee producers in his native Brazil, but devoted his life instead to the study of human flight... Continue Reading →
October 22, 1938 Professional cyclist Alfred Letourneur set a new world record during a motor-paced racing competition at a velodrome in Montlhéry, France. Motor-paced racing involves having a cyclist closely follow a motorized vehicle to gain momentum and speed from that vehicle’s slipstream, and Letourneur – while riding his bicycle behind a motorbike in Monthlhéry... Continue Reading →
October 16, 1961 Cork Airport was officially opened in the Republic of Ireland. Located in the southwestern part of the country, this airport is four miles (6.5 kilometers) south of the city of Cork. Plans for an airport in the area had been under serious discussion as far back as 1928. The actual construction of... Continue Reading →
October 2, 1988 The innovative automobile designer Alexander “Alec” Arnold Constantine Issigonis died in Edgbaston, a town and suburban area of Birmingham, England, at the age of 81. In announcing his death, the London-based Guardian newspaper highlighted him as “not only a great and original car designer but someone who put his stamp on a... Continue Reading →
September 27, 1938 The steam-powered ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth, constructed by the shipbuilding firm John Brown & Company for Cunard-White Star Line (renamed Cunard Line in 1949), was launched at a shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland. This ocean liner was named for the wife of England’s King George VI and queen consort of the United Kingdom... Continue Reading →
September 23, 1913 French aviator Roland Garros established two new airborne records when he successfully undertook the longest overseas plane trip up to that point in time and also became the first person to fly across the Mediterranean Sea. The 24-year-old pilot, flying on his own in a two-seat Morane-Saulnier G monoplane, departed the Fréjus... Continue Reading →
September 20, 1910 The ocean liner SS France, which sailed for the French shipping company Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (CGT), was launched into the River Loire at Saint-Nazaire, France. Approximately 2,000 people were on hand to witness the ship’s grand debut. The France, measuring 712 feet (217 meters) in length, became one of the fastest and... Continue Reading →
August 29, 1911 Hilda Hewlett became the first British woman to earn an airplane pilot’s license. Hewlett, who was 47 at the time, received certificate number 122 from the Royal Aero Club after she completed a test flight at Brooklands Aerodrome near the town of Weybridge in southeastern England. Hewlett had been born in Central... Continue Reading →
August 22, 1882 French aviation pioneer Raymonde de Laroche was born in Paris. While originally known as Élise Raymonde Deroche, she adopted Raymonde de Laroche as her name by the time she turned 20 and had begun an acting career. She enjoyed playing sports as a child, but as a young adult, she acquired an... Continue Reading →
August 16, 1945 In England, the lifeboat Foresters Centenary was taken out into the North Sea to help dozens of people who were stranded together on a vessel. This operation was only one of many rescues undertaken throughout the years by the lifeboat in the waters off England’s eastern coastline. On that summer day in... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 