Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 22, 1978 Appledore II, a privately owned two-masted wooden schooner, was launched from the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This vessel -- with an overall length of 86 feet (26 meters) -- is larger than her sister ships Appledore I, III, IV, and V. All of these ships were constructed for Herbert and Doris... Continue Reading →
August 15, 1932 In western Mexico’s state of Jalisco, a lighthouse along Matamoros Street in the Pacific beach resort city of Puerto Vallarta first went into service. This black-and-white structure – known as Matamoros Lighthouse – was built and officially inaugurated by Roberto Alcazar, the captain of Puerto Vallarta’s harbor. Matamoros Lighthouse served as a... Continue Reading →
August 9, 1943 With the United States deeply embroiled in World War II at the time, the U.S. Navy purchased the steamship Zizania for military use on the home front. This acquisition marked only the latest of several major milestones for this longtime and multi-faceted vessel. The origins of Zizania, which owed her name to... Continue Reading →
August 8, 2011 In the Detroit metropolitan area, a newly built intermodal terminal station in the city of Pontiac was officially dedicated. The public officials on hand for this ceremony included Gary Peters, who was the U.S. representative for that region of Michigan at the time and now serves the Great Lakes State as one... Continue Reading →
August 7, 1919 Ernest Charles Hoy (1895-1982), who had recently distinguished himself as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot during World War I, achieved a major aviation milestone when he flew a Curtiss JN-4 biplane across the Canadian Rockies. This marked the first-ever crossing of that steep mountain range by air. In an account of... Continue Reading →
August 5, 1914 What are widely regarded as the world’s first electric traffic lights made their debut at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Alfred A. Benesch (1879-1973), the city’s director of public safety, placed the lights in operation at 5:00 p.m. Those also on hand for that launch included other... Continue Reading →
July 31, 1989 Savage station, which is based in central Maryland, first went into regular service early on a Monday morning. This station is part of the Camden Line of the MARC commuter rail system and it is specifically located between the communities of Savage in Howard County and Annapolis Junction in both Howard and... Continue Reading →
July 22, 1893 Here’s proof that transportation not only gets you from point A to point B but can also be inspirational. . . It was on this date that 33-year-old Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, found herself taking in a majestic view from atop the Colorado-based mountain Pikes... Continue Reading →
July 16, 1973 A rapid transit station at 1215 Isabella Street in the Chicago suburb of Evanston was closed permanently. Isabella station served the Evanston Line (the present-day Purple Line) of the Chicago “L” (short for “elevated”), which is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). This station had been opened on April 1,... Continue Reading →
July 15, 1952 Two large Sikorsky H-19 helicopters took off from Westover Air Force Base (AFB) in Massachusetts to begin what would be the first transoceanic crossing of that mode of airborne transportation. One of these helicopters was named “Hop-A-Long,” and it was piloted by Captain Vincent H. McGovern with Captain Harry C. Jeffers as... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 