Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 23, 1964 A 45-year-old Illinois engineer named Sidney Allen Heenan applied for a U.S. patent for a durable road safety device that remains in extensive use nationwide to further reduce motor vehicle accidents. The device, as outlined in his patent application, was a raised pavement reflector marker. These markers were designed for placement on... Continue Reading →
October 18, 1909 The aristocrat known as Charles, Count de Lambert became the first person to fly over the French capital city of Paris in a plane. He quickly gained worldwide attention for this achievement. “Great Record in Air,” proclaimed a headline in the next day’s edition of the New York-based Buffalo Express. De Lambert,... Continue Reading →
October 15, 1958 The inaugural ceremony for the AASHO Road Test took place in the city of Ottawa, Illinois, which is located about 80 miles (128.8 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. The purpose of this road test, which was sponsored by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) and supervised by the Highway Research Board... Continue Reading →
October 12, 1799 An aviation milestone took place when Jeanne Geneviéve Labrosse Garnerin, who was flying in a hot-air balloon in the skies over France, became the first woman to make a parachute descent back to earth. The balloon was approximately 2,953 feet (900 meters) above the ground when she made this descent, with her... Continue Reading →
October 11, 1910 In Ohio’s Cuyahoga County, a recently completed bridge was dedicated in the Cleveland region. The new structure, carrying Detroit Road over the Rocky River, was the fifth bridge built at that location to connect the cities of Rocky River and Lakewood. Construction on this version of the Detroit Rocky River Bridge began... Continue Reading →
October 10, 1903 The three-masted topsail schooner Alma Doepel was launched on the Bellinger River in the state of New South Wales in southeastern Australia. This type of sailing vessel was used extensively for trade along the Australian coast, and the Alma Doepel is one of the oldest ships of that kind still in existence... Continue Reading →
October 9, 1935 Harvey A. Moyer, a prolific transportation entrepreneur who manufactured both horse-drawn carriages and luxury automobiles, died in Syracuse, New York, at the age of 62. Moyer, who had been born in the New York town of Clay in 1853, demonstrated a strong interest in creating vehicles relatively early on in life. When... Continue Reading →
Hispanic-American surfmen Pablo Valent, Mariano Holland, and Indalecio Lopez were among those serving at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Texas-based Brazos Life-Saving Station (the present-day South Padre Island Station) who undertook a high-risk rescue operation in the Gulf of Mexico during a severe storm in September 1919. (Valent had entered the U.S. Life-Saving Service in 1912... Continue Reading →
October 5, 1872 In southern California, construction on a major wooden pier along the Pacific coast was completed in the city of Ventura. “At last a steamer can lay alongside of the wharf, and discharge and take on cargo and passengers,” reported the Ventura Signal newspaper. “It is a grand improvement upon the old way,... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 