Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
The Lindau Lighthouse in the then-Kingdom of Bavaria began operations. The 108-foot-tall lighthouse, which took three years to build, is in the town of Lindau on Lake Constance. The structure is the southernmost lighthouse in present-day German; it is also the only lighthouse in the German federal state of Bavaria. The lighthouse has been automated... Continue Reading →
Citroën, a major French automobile manufacturer, officially celebrated its 90th anniversary. The company, which was founded by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën in 1919, has contributed a number of key innovative technologies to the automotive world over the decades. One example was the Traction Avant automobile, which Citroën introduced in 1934. This vehicle was the first... Continue Reading →
After being extensively restored, the Royapuram railway station in South India was formally reopened to the public. Rangasamy Velu, India’s union minister of state for railways, presided at this ceremony. The Royapuram railway station is located in the northern part of the city of Chennai on the Chennai Beach-Arakkonam segment of the Chennai Suburban Railway.... Continue Reading →
Construction on the Eyre Highway in Australia was completed with the permanent sealing of the South Australian section of this route with bitumen. This final section was the stretch of highway between South Australia’s border with Western Australia and the South Australian town of Penong. A ceremony to commemorate the event took place near Wigunda... Continue Reading →
Inventor and engineer Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, who made significant contributions to maritime transportation, was born in Madrid. Monturiol invented the first air-independent and combustion-engine-driven submarine. He died in 1885 at the age of 65. For more information about Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcís_Monturiol.
In Egypt, the first section of the Cairo Metro rapid transit system was opened. This section was an 18-mile segment of Line 1 between the city of Helwan in the Greater Cairo metropolitan area and Ramses Square in Egypt’s capital. The first substantive proposal for such a transit service had been made during the 1930s... Continue Reading →
In a major triumph, the Australian racing yacht Australia II won the America’s Cup. Australia II represented the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Australia. The America’s Cup defender, the New York Yacht Club, had held the sailing trophy since 1851. Australian sailor John Bertrand served as the skipper for Australia II, and he and his... Continue Reading →
Champion bicyclist Stanisław Szozda was born in the village of Dobromierz in southwestern Poland. He represented Poland at Summer Olympics in Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976), winning a silver medal in each of those games for the men’s cycling team time trial (in which cyclists race in groups of four from participating nations). Szozda’s other... Continue Reading →
The first section of France’s first high-speed rail line officially began operations. The LGV Sud-Est was being built as a transit link between Paris and Lyon, and the inaugural festivities for the new line included a special train running on the completed segment between Lyon and the commune of Montchanin. As the train sped north... Continue Reading →
Sampo, a pioneering icebreaker that the British manufacturer Armstrong-Whitworth (AW) had just built for the Finnish government, left the AW shipyard in northeastern England for her second sea trial. The first sea trial for Sampo took place about a month earlier and quickly ended in failure when the new vessel’s bow propeller shaft malfunctioned. Sampo’s... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 