Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 2, 1922 Over a year after the first segment of the Boulevard of the Allies made its debut, the entire route in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was opened to traffic. The road, which links downtown Pittsburgh with the city’s Oakland neighborhood, was named in honor of the Allied Powers that had fought against Germany and the other... Continue Reading →
October 1, 1979 Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) made its debut with the opening of the first five miles (8.1 kilometers) of the Kwun Tong Line. “As champagne corks popped and a Chinese dragon danced for luck,” reported the Associated Press later that week, “Hong Kong christened its new subway system on Sunday and sent... Continue Reading →
September 28, 2008 The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge was officially opened to foot and bicycle traffic two months ahead of schedule. The footbridge crosses over the Missouri River and links the cities of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska. The 3,000-foot (914.4-meter) structure, which can be found north of the Interstate 480 girder bridge, is the longest... Continue Reading →
September 27, 1825 The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) made its debut in northeastern England’s County Durham, thereby launching the first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains. It linked the village of Witton Park with the market town of Stockton-on-Tees and also provided connections to several coal-mining facilities near the town of Shildon. The S&DR, covering a... Continue Reading →
September 26, 1944 With the United States still fighting the Axis powers during World War II, the U.S. Navy cargo ship USS Beltrami was launched. Beltrami, which had been named after a county in northwestern Minnesota, was built by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company at its shipyards in Richmond, California. The launch of Beltrami at Richmond... Continue Reading →
September 25, 1955 Emma Rowena Gatewood became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail on her own. The 67-year-old Gatewood was also the oldest person up to that time to complete the trek. Gatewood reached the summit of Maine’s Mount Katahdin, which is the northern terminus of the trail, 146 days after starting her... Continue Reading →
September 24, 1946 Cathay Pacific Airways was officially established in Hong Kong. The airline’s founders were Roy C. Farrell of the United States and Sydney H. de Kantzow of Australia. Both of these men had served in the military during World War II and were among the pilots who regularly flew over “The Hump,” a vital Allied... Continue Reading →
September 21, 2014 In New York City, the third and final section of a linear park featuring an innovative and eco-friendly trail was opened on the west side of Manhattan. A CBS news story called the Sunday opening of this section “perfect timing for New Yorkers looking to soak up the last of summer’s warmth.”... Continue Reading →
September 20, 1935 Railroad magnate William Wallace Atterbury died in Philadelphia at the age of 69. He had been born in the city of New Albany in Indiana in 1866. After graduating from Yale University, Atterbury started out in the railroad business as an apprentice earning five cents per hour at the shops of the Pennsylvania... Continue Reading →
September 19, 1919 Construction officially began on a major road along Australia’s southeastern coast. At the time, this region of the Australian state of Victoria was mostly accessible to the outside world only by sea. The building of the Great Ocean Road was seen as an opportunity to better connect isolated settlements in the area... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 