Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 14, 1930 Construction on the lightship now known as Chesapeake was completed by the Charleston Drydock & Machine Company in Charleston, South Carolina. As one of the more modern floating lighthouses built to serve as navigational aids along U.S. coastal waters, Lightship 116 was equipped with state-of-the-art features for lightships during that era. Lightship... Continue Reading →
August 13, 1962 The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge linking the community of Lubec, Maine, and Canada’s Campobello Island – where the 32nd U.S. president maintained a summer retreat – was dedicated. The international bridge, measuring 847 feet (258.2 meters) in length, crosses over the Lubec Narrows at the edge of the Bay of Fundy and... Continue Reading →
August 10, 1893 A huge parade for bicyclists took place in Chicago as part of the 14th annual meeting of the League of American Wheelmen (LAW). The specific venue for the LAW meeting was the World’s Columbian Exposition. (This extravagant international fair was being held in the Windy City to celebrate the 400th anniversary of... Continue Reading →
August 9, 2015 A cable-stayed bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, was first opened to the public. This open house took place more than a month before the bridge was officially dedicated. The new structure was designed by TriMet, the regional transit authority for the Portland metropolitan area, for the MAX Orange Line... Continue Reading →
August 7, 1971 Joseph Washington Frazer, whose meteoric rise in the automobile business took him from repairing and maintaining vehicles to serving in top executive-level positions at several major companies, died at his home in Newport, Rhode Island. He was 79. “Mr. Frazer, who had the build and energy of a fullback, glowed with a... Continue Reading →
July 31, 1910 In Minnesota, Split Rock Lighthouse began operations in a high-risk area on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The new structure’s oil-vapor lamp was first lit on that Sunday evening by keeper Orren “Pete” Young. A one-time sailor, Young served as keeper at the lighthouse until retiring at the mandatory age of... Continue Reading →
July 30, 1928 Dwight E. Austin, an engineer at the California-based bus company Pickwick Stages System, finished building the first model of one of the most unique motor vehicles to grace America’s highways up to that time. The vehicle was the Nite Coach (also spelled out as Nitecoach), a double-decker bus with sleeping accommodations for up... Continue Reading →
July 27, 1888 In Boston, inventor Philip W. Pratt conducted a public demonstration of an electric tricycle that he had designed and was built by the manufacturer and electrical engineer Fred M. Kimball. As part of his demonstration, Pratt took the editor of Modern Light and Heat magazine for a ride on the new device around... Continue Reading →
July 25, 1953 Tokens were first sold as fare for New York City’s subway system. They were a response to a large-scale technical challenge facing the system. The New York City Transit Authority (TA) opened for business that year to oversee the city’s extensive public transportation operations, and the debut of the agency was accompanied by... Continue Reading →
July 24, 1864 Railroad executive Thomas James Tait, whose career spanned both North America and Australia, was born in the township municipality of Melbourne in Quebec, Canada. He started working for the Grand Trunk Railway (GT) in 1880; that extensive system ran through Ontario and Quebec as well as Michigan and much of New England. Tait... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 