Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 27, 1869 Greece’s first railroad line – as well as one of the oldest metropolitan-area transit systems in the world – was officially opened to serve Athens and its vicinity. The Athens & Piraeus Railway commenced its regular operations along a 5.5-mile (8.8-kilometer) route with a steam locomotive that pulled six cars from the... Continue Reading →
February 26, 1930 The Texas Highway Commission (a predecessor of today’s Texas Transportation Commission) approved the designation of a new highway to be built through the longtime State Cemetery in the city of Austin. The origins of this cemetery in the eastern part of Texas’s state capital date back to the 1850s. The State Cemetery,... Continue Reading →
February 25, 1985 In Australia, a major milestone for Kendell Airlines took place when that record-setting regional airline in Australia, added the twin-engine turboprop aircraft Saab 340 to its fleet. These 34-seat civilian planes, which had made their public debut only two years earlier, were built by the Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab AB... Continue Reading →
February 24, 1914 In the southeastern area of present-day India, a new railway bridge connecting the town of Mandapam on the mainland with Pamban Island was officially opened. At the time of the bridge’s debut, this region was part of an administrative subdivision of British India known as the Madras Presidency. The structure is called... Continue Reading →
February 20, 1898 In Switzerland, a referendum calling for the creation of a state-owned railway company was approved by a vote of 386,634 to 182,718. “Swiss Railways for the Swiss People” had served as the rallying cry for the supporters of this measure. The demand for a national railway system in Switzerland was rooted in... Continue Reading →
February 18, 1911 The world’s first official mail delivery via airplane took place in the northern area of the present-day Republic of India. At the time, this region of India was under British rule as part of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. French pilot Henri Pequet, who happened to be in the city... Continue Reading →
February 13, 1959 President Carlos P. Garcia of the Republic of the Philippines issued an executive order designating a new yacht as the flagship (lead ship) of the Philippine Navy. This designation took place not long after the vessel had undergone a two-day series of sea trials. The sea trials were conducted under Philippine Navy... Continue Reading →
February 12, 1961 Charles Richelieu McMillan, who shepherded major changes to roads throughout South Carolina during his tenure as the Palmetto State’s chief highway commissioner, died in the state capital city of Columbia after a long illness. He was 61. The South Carolina-based Florence Morning News praised McMillan at the time of his death as... Continue Reading →
February 11, 1888 Construction began on a new terminal building for Sirkeci railway station in the city of Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) in the present-day Republic of Turkey. (At the time, Turkey was part of the Ottoman Empire; Constantinople served as the empire’s capital.) With Constantinople straddling the Bosporus strait between Europe and Asia,... Continue Reading →
February 10, 1953 Narisimha Gopalaswami Ayyangar, who played a pivotal role in modernizing and improving India’s railway network, died in the city of Madras (present-day Chennai) in southern India at the age of 70. Ayyangar had been born in the region in 1882. His longtime public service career started in 1905; the first of those... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 