Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 12, 1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower made transportation history when he became the first U.S. president to fly in a helicopter. This aviation “first” occurred after he went on board a Bell H-13J helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House. This helicopter had been purchased by the U.S. Air Force, and it was piloted... Continue Reading →
July 9, 1910 Just a couple of days before his 21st birthday, Walter Brookins broke the world’s altitude record for fixed-wing aircraft when he attained a height of 6,175 feet (1,882 meters) while piloting a Wright biplane in the skies above Atlantic City, New Jersey. This early-evening flight also marked the first time that a... Continue Reading →
July 7, 1914 An electric railway (interurban) line in southern Maine began regular operations. This line would serve as a key transit link between the Pine Tree State’s two largest cities: Portland in Cumberland County; and Lewiston in Androscoggin County. Construction on the line began in 1910. The first trial run for the new route... Continue Reading →
July 2, 1906 Juliet Fish Nichols, the keeper at the Point Knox Lighthouse on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, made maritime history when a fog bell malfunctioned at the worst possible time. Her job as lighthouse keeper was crucial in helping ships deal with the treacherous currents, rocks, and fog throughout the bay. The need to... Continue Reading →
July 1, 1928 The Trailmobile Company of Cincinnati and the Michigan-based Lapeer Trailer Corporation – the two largest trailer manufacturers in the United States at that time – merged to become the Trailer Company of America. Levi Wade Childress, a St. Louis investor who held large stakes in numerous shipping enterprises, was selected as the first... Continue Reading →
June 28, 1911 The world’s first documented charter plane flight came about as the result of some mischief. Washington Atlee Burpee, the founder and head of a large seed-and-planting company, was in New York aboard the British ocean liner RMS Olympic. This ship was set to travel on the Hudson River and ultimately across the... Continue Reading →
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 →
Transportation History 