Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 6, 1885 Queen Victoria of England gave her royal assent to a bill passed by both houses of parliament authorizing the creation of a canal to link the city of Manchester to the Irish Sea. The Queen's formal approval was the final legislative hurdle that had to be overcome to make the Manchester Ship Canal... Continue Reading →
August 2, 1784 A new era for the British postal system took place when the first stagecoach to officially transport mail left Bristol for London. A regular mail-delivery service had already been in place in England for nearly 150 years by that time, with carriers riding horses in what was essentially a “relay race” format.... Continue Reading →
August 1, 1953 The oldest official hiking track in Europe made its debut in Slovenia, which was a part of Yugoslavia at the time and would become an independent country in 1991. The Slovenian Mountain Hiking Trail -- originally called Slovenian Mountain Transversal No. 1 -- made its debut with a total of 80 “control points”... Continue Reading →
July 12, 1809 In England, renowned pedestrian Robert Barclay Allardice (widely known as Captain Barclay) completed a mile (kilometer)-per-hour walk of 1,000 miles (1,609.3 kilometers) in 1,000 consecutive hours in the town of Newmarket. When he finished his ambitious walk at 3:37 on that Wednesday afternoon, he did so – in the words of an 1813... Continue Reading →
July 5, 328 A Roman Empire bridge built across the river Danube made its formal debut. This opening of the bridge took place in the presence of Constantine I (also called Constantine the Great), who reigned as Roman emperor from 306 to 337. The structure, which has become known as Constantine’s Bridge, was constructed in... Continue Reading →
July 3, 1886 The Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is widely regarded as the first functioning automobile, made its debut when inventor Karl Benz officially unveiled the motorized vehicle in the city of Mannheim in the present-day Federal Republic of Germany. (At the time, Mannheim was part of the German Empire state known as the Grand Duchy... Continue Reading →
June 29, 1900 A pioneering passenger ship built for the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG, or the Hamburg-America Line) was launched at the city of Hamburg in what was then the German Empire (now part of the Federal Republic of Germany). The ship was christened by the Countess von Waldersee (formerly Mary Esther Lee), the U.S.-born wife... Continue Reading →
June 28, 1939 Ushering in a new age of scheduled transatlantic passenger airplane service, the Dixie Clipper “flying boat” made its first run along Pan Am Airways’ newly established route between New York and Marseilles, France, via the South Atlantic Ocean. This long-range aircraft was one of several produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between... Continue Reading →
June 22, 1927 The ocean liner SS Île de France embarked on her maiden voyage from the French port of Le Havre to New York City by way of the then-town of Plymouth, England. Those on board for this transatlantic journey included Myron T. Herrick, U.S. ambassador to France and a former governor of Ohio;... Continue Reading →
June 21, 1886 In England, construction of the Tower Bridge in London began when a foundation stone was put in place during an extravagant Monday afternoon ceremony attended by royalty. The need for a bridge spanning across the River Thames at that location had become urgent as commercial development in London’s East End grew dramatically... Continue Reading →
