Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 24, 1995 USCGC Juniper (WLB-201), the lead ship of the U.S. Coast Guard’s seagoing buoy tenders, was launched. This vessel, weighing 2,000 tons (1,814.4 metric tons) and measuring 225 feet (69 meters) in length, had the distinction of being outfitted with some of the most advanced technological and navigational capabilities available at that time. These capabilities include skimming... Continue Reading →
June 16, 1940 The East Side Highway in the southeastern corner of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State made its debut. The dedication ceremony for this new means of vehicular access to the park was held at the north portal of a tunnel built as a key portion of the route. This event was... Continue Reading →
June 15, 1928 The first successful aircraft-to-train transfer of mail took place in southwestern Illinois. This pioneering handover from a U.S. Army airship (also known at the time as a dirigible) to an Illinois Central Railroad (IC) train specifically occurred in the vicinity of the city of Belleville. That experiment in mail delivery was a... Continue Reading →
June 14, 1929 Memphis Municipal Airport was officially dedicated in Memphis. The genesis of the facility took place two years earlier, when Memphis Mayor Watkins Overton created an airport planning commission. One of the commission’s key tasks involved selecting Ward Farm, a 200-acre (81-hectare) tract located a little over seven miles (11 kilometers) from downtown Memphis,... Continue Reading →
June 11, 1910 In Oregon, a statewide campaign promoting the need for improved roads officially ended in the city of Medford in the southwestern corner of the Beaver State. This campaign, which was sponsored by the state’s good roads advocates, had been launched on May 16 in the city of Ontario in eastern Oregon. One... Continue Reading →
June 10, 1996 A public transportation service designated by New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) as Midtown Direct was officially launched in the town of Kearny in northeastern New Jersey. The Kearny Connection, as this linkage is also called, makes it possible for suburban passenger trains starting out on the Morris & Essex Lines of... Continue Reading →
June 9, 1930 A three-masted staysail auxiliary schooner that had been built for Robert C. Roebling was launched in Bath, Maine. A Georgia resident, Roebling came from a family with a notable background in transportation. He was a great-grandson of John A. Roebling, the renowned civil engineer best known for designing the Brooklyn Bridge; and... Continue Reading →
June 7, 1879 Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen, polar explorer and dogsled driver extraordinaire, was born in the town of Jakobshavn (now Ilulissat) in western Greenland. His father was a Danish missionary, and his mother was of both Danish and Inuit descent. As a child growing up in the often harsh Arctic region, Rasmussen early on... Continue Reading →
June 2, 1851 The clipper ship Flying Cloud, making her maiden voyage, departed from New York City at 2:00 p.m. Under the command of Captain Josiah Perkins Creesy, the vessel went on to establish a new sailing record for the fastest passage between that city and San Francisco. After leaving New York City, Flying Cloud... Continue Reading →
June 1, 1882 Belyea’s Point Lighthouse went into service along the Saint John River in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Construction on this navigational aid in the vicinity of the community of Morrisdale had been initiated during the previous year. Spafford Barker Belyea was this lighthouse’s first keeper. During the 1930s, Belyea’s Point Lighthouse... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 