Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 9, 1903 The American Automobile and Power Company was incorporated in the city of Sanford in southern Maine. The eight officers selected at the time for that company included Boston resident Henry D. Long, who became the president; and Sanford native Ernest M. Goodall, who was appointed to serve as the treasurer. The automobile produced... Continue Reading →
December 8, 1921 The eighth annual meeting of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) came to an end. (More than a half-century later, AASHO officially renamed itself the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials [AASHTO] to reflect what had become a broader mission encompassing different modes of transportation rather than just... Continue Reading →
December 7, 1941 Without a formal declaration of war or any other explicit warning, the Empire of Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in what was then the Territory of Hawaii. The Japanese Imperial Navy’s surprise strike left in its wake a staggering number of deaths and injuries – both military and... Continue Reading →
December 6, 1954 A different type of motor coach bus first rolled off the Mercedes-Benz assembly line in city of Mannheim in what was then West Germany. The 30-foot (9.1-meter)-long 0321H, which was equipped with nine rows of seats and could accommodate up to 37 passengers, made its debut nearly six decades after automotive pioneer... Continue Reading →
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 2, 1961 An airport in northeastern Italy’s region of Friuli Venezia Giulia officially began commercial operations. This airport is specifically located about 19 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of Trieste, the capital city of Friuli Venezia Giulia. As far back as 1935, that aviation facility had been used as a base for the country’s air... 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 29, 1987 In the Republic of Singapore, the first part of a major bus station was officially opened in the planning area and residential town of Tampines in the East Region of that Southeast Asian city-state. The Tampines Bus Interchange (TBI) had been built in response to the steadily growing population in that section... Continue Reading →
November 24, 1998 The Manakamana Cable Car service in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal was inaugurated. This gondola lift transportation system had been imported from Austria. (In that type of gondola lift transportation system, airborne cars supported and propelled by cables from above are used to carry passengers from one point to another.) The... Continue Reading →
November 22, 1990 The Křižíkova station of the rapid transit system known as the Prague Metro was officially opened. As the time, Prague was the capital of Czechoslovakia. The longtime communist rule in Czechoslovakia had ended about a year earlier, and in 1993, that country would be split into the independent states of Slovakia and... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 