Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 5, 1917 Four months after the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allied Powers, a motorboat known as Riette was commissioned into the U.S. Navy at the New York Navy Yard in the northwest section of Brooklyn. (That shipyard is now officially called the Brooklyn Navy Yard.) Chief Boatswain’s... Continue Reading →
August 4, 1919 A convoy of flag-decorated motor vehicles, which consisted of both trucks and automobiles, left Chicago’s Grant Park for a 3,000-mile (4,826-kilometer)-journey through the rural regions of six Midwestern states. “The object of the enterprise, which is the first of its kind, is to demonstrate to the farmers of Illinois, Iowa, North and... Continue Reading →
August 3, 1921 The one-time German ship SS George Washington embarked on her first voyage as an American ocean liner. This reconditioned ship left Hoboken, New Jersey, just before two o’clock in the afternoon for European destinations that included Plymouth, England; Cherbourg, France; and Bremen, Germany. That transatlantic trip took place a little over two-and-a-half years after... Continue Reading →
July 30, 2016 A new line of the Rio de Janeiro Metro in Brazil’s second largest city was officially opened. Line 4 (also known as the Yellow Line) of that rapid transit network connects the Jardim Oceânico Station in the neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro with the... Continue Reading →
July 29, 1916 A new automotive enterprise took shape when the Nash Motors Company was incorporated in Baltimore, Maryland. The incorporation occurred after Charles W. Nash, who had recently stepped down as president of General Motors (GM) Corporation, bought the automobile manufacturer Thomas B. Jeffery Company to revamp it into his own enterprise for making... Continue Reading →
July 28, 1790 James Goold, a renowned carriage-maker who manufactured everything from sleighs to stagecoaches, was born in Granby, Connecticut. He launched his own business in Albany, New York, in 1813. That firm, which became popularly known as the Albany Coach Manufactory, achieved an important milestone in 1831 when it was hired to build six coaches for... Continue Reading →
July 27, 1914 The steamship SS Pleiades, part of the fleet of the Luckenbach Steamship Company, left San Francisco for what ultimately proved to be a record-setting voyage to New York City. Pleaides, carrying 5,000 tons (4,535.9 metric tons) of cargo on board, became the first ship in regular commercial traffic to sail from the... Continue Reading →
July 26, 1946 The Hawaii-based Aloha Airlines made its debut. (At the time, Hawaii was a U.S. territory; it became the 50th state in 1959.) Aloha Airlines was originally established as Trans-Pacific Airlines by Rudy F. Tongg, Sr., one of Hawaii’s wealthiest and most flamboyant businessmen, as a competitor to Hawaiian Airlines. Tongg envisioned a... Continue Reading →
July 23, 1903 The Ford Motor Company – just a little over a month after being incorporated -- delivered its first-ever automobile to be purchased to Dr. Ernst Pfenning, a dentist in Chicago. Pfenning paid $850 for a Ford Model A with a backseat. The Model A, which became the forerunner of the many types... Continue Reading →
July 22, 1940 The Bantam Car Company submitted to the U.S. Army a prototype design for a new vehicle. World War II had erupted elsewhere by that time and, while the United States remained officially neutral, the Army realized the need to be ready to fight in that military conflict against Nazi Germany. The Army therefore sought... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 