Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 3, 2012 Starting at 2:00 p.m., a newly completed parkway in southeastern Pennsylvania was formally dedicated. The George A. Penglase Memorial Parkway was created as part of a realignment of U.S. Route 202 (US 202), a highway that encompasses 59 miles (95 kilometers) altogether and courses through the western and northern suburbs of Philadelphia.... Continue Reading →
December 1, 1866 A suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, was opened to the public when people were first allowed to walk across the new structure. The next day’s edition of the Cincinnati-based Commercial Gazette reported, “The new bridge was thronged throughout the day, fully 20,000 having crossed between sunrise... Continue Reading →
November 17, 1913 The Eighth Street Bridge in Allentown, Pennsylvania, was formally opened to traffic. At the time of its debut, this 17-arch structure -- measuring 2,650 feet (810 meters) in length and 138 feet (42 meters) in height -- was the world’s longest and highest concrete bridge. This bridge came into existence because the Lehigh... Continue Reading →
November 16, 1860 The first permanent lighthouse on the western coast of Canada made its debut just off Vancouver Island, which was a separate British colony at the time and not yet integrated with British Columbia as a single government unit. Fisgard Lighthouse, located at the narrow entrance to Esquimalt Harbor on the island’s southern... Continue Reading →
November 15, 1947 Standiford Field airport in Louisville, Kentucky, was opened for commercial flights, replacing Bowman Field as the main airport for the Bluegrass State’s largest city. Bowman Field had been providing plane flights for passengers since 1924. With the introduction of passenger services at Standiford Field, just about all of the commercial airline operations... Continue Reading →
November 11, 1935 U.S. Army Air Corps Captains Albert W. Stevens and Orvil A. Anderson, traveling in the high-altitude helium balloon Explorer II, established a record altitude of 72,395 feet (22,066 meters) for manned balloons. This airborne journey took place in the skies above South Dakota. “Successful Flight into Stratosphere,” read the headline for an... Continue Reading →
November 9, 1967 The Poplar Street Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River and connects St. Louis, Missouri, with East St. Louis, Illinois, was officially opened to traffic. Missouri Highway News magazine reported at that time, “Clean of line but strong of sinew, the Bridge is a masterful blending of beauty and function.” This 2,164-foot (660-meter)-long structure, which... Continue Reading →
November 4, 1895 At a time when bicycling had reached unprecedented levels of popularity throughout the United States, a facility for devotees of that transportation mode was opened in the vicinity of Richmond, Virginia. The official dedication of the Lakeside Wheel Club, a one-story structure located approximately five miles (8.1 kilometers) north of Virginia’s state... Continue Reading →
November 3, 1986 In the Canadian province of Quebec, Côte-Vertu station in Montreal’s borough of Saint-Laurent first went into service as part of the underground rapid transit system known as the Montreal Metro. At the time of its opening, this station replaced Du Collège station as the western terminus for the Montreal Metro’s Orange Line.... Continue Reading →
October 29, 1983 Nearly a half-century after its debut, the streamlined electric locomotive known as the GG1was retired from active service once and for all. The GG1 era formally ended when New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) – the last operator of that class of locomotives – ran a series of farewell trips between the borough... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 