Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
November 14, 1877 Ralph H. Carpenter, who launched and led one of the largest manufacturers of school bus bodies in the United States, was born in southern Indiana. As a teenager, Carpenter set up his own blacksmith shop in the city of Mitchell in the Hoosier State. A significant part of Carpenter’s job as a... Continue Reading →
November 13, 1927 The Holland Tunnel was opened to traffic in the New York metropolitan area just one minute after midnight. This highway conduit, which runs beneath the Hudson River and connects New York City’s island of Manhattan with Jersey City, New Jersey, was the first twin-tube underwater vehicular tunnel in the United States. The tunnel... Continue Reading →
November 9, 1895 The last horse-drawn streetcar in Detroit made its final run. Banners on each side of the vehicle read “The last horse car.” Two horses pulled it along the Chene Street line, which was the last of Detroit’s streetcar routes to be equipped with electric streetcars. “Detroit takes final leave of the horse... Continue Reading →
November 8, 2008 Construction began on a new and record-setting dual carriageway (divided highway) toll bridge in the Malaysian state of Penang. The Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge was formally designated Expressway 28 (E28) and is also known as the Penang Second Bridge. The building of this bridge was originally expected to be done... Continue Reading →
November 7, 1910 The first commercial air freight shipment occurred in Ohio between the cities of Dayton and Columbus. Max Morehouse, owner of the Columbus-based Morehouse Martens department store, asked aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright for help in transporting to him by air a 100-pound (45.4-kilogram) shipment of silk from a wholesaler in Dayton... Continue Reading →
November 6, 1818 In northwestern Pennsylvania, a lighthouse in the borough (now city) of Erie began operations when keeper John Bone lit the oil wick in the new structure. The lighthouse had been built on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie and was specifically located across the water from Presque Isle, a seven-mile (11.3-kilometer)-long peninsula that... Continue Reading →
November 5, 1896 The Cascade Locks and Canal, which were built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, officially opened on the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. The key reason for the navigation project was the need for more efficient and uninterrupted transportation along the Columbia River to help further develop the economic well-being of... Continue Reading →
November 2, 1959 In southern England, the first segment of the freeway designated the M1 motorway made its formal debut. This segment spanned 72 miles (115.9 kilometers), linking the borough of Watford in the outskirts of London with both the market town of Rugby and village of Cricket near Birmingham. The M1 now encompasses 193.5 miles... Continue Reading →
November 1, 1895 The American Motor League (AML), the first automobile club in the United States, held its preliminary meeting in Chicago. A total of 60 people were at the meeting, which took place at the Chicago School of Electricity on Dearborn Street. The new club’s main objectives included promoting continued technological innovations for automobiles, which were... Continue Reading →
October 31, 1913 The official dedication of the Lincoln Highway took place in the form of numerous ceremonies and other celebrations nationwide, notably in the hundreds of cities and towns along the approved route for the planned transcontinental thoroughfare for motor vehicles. “Cities en Route From Coast to Coast Mark Opening of Great Rock Road,”... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 