Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 25, 1992 The Ria Bridge, which is located in northwestern Spain’s autonomous community of Galicia, was opened to traffic. (A ria is a coastal inlet that has been formed for the partial submergence of a river that was never covered or otherwise impacted by any glaciers or ice sheets.) This bridge is part of... Continue Reading →
March 21, 2022 After more than a quarter-century of service, the patrol ship USS Whirlwind (PC-11) was decommissioned at the U.S. Navy base Naval Support Activity Bahrain. (That military installation in the Kingdom of Bahrain serves as home to both U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. Fifth Fleet.) Whirlwind had been built at... Continue Reading →
March 20, 2004 In Indonesia, an airport in the city of Sorong in the province of West Papua was officially opened. This city was part of the region split off from West Papua in 2022 to form the province of Southwest Papua. Both of these provinces are located on the Bird’s Head Peninsula, which makes... Continue Reading →
March 19, 2018 In northern Italy’s autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a railway station built to serve Trieste Airport near the commune of Ronchi dei Legionari was officially opened. (Ronchi dei Legionari is 19 miles [30 kilometers] northwest of Trieste, a major seaport and the capital city of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.) Those attending the inauguration of... Continue Reading →
March 18, 2017 An inaugural ceremony was held for a cable-stayed highway bridge built between the Federative Republic of Brazil; and French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France. This structure spans the Oyapock River and links the Brazilian municipality of Oiapoque in the state of Amapá with the French Guianese commune of Saint-Georges-de-l’Oyapock... Continue Reading →
March 14, 2017 In the Republic of the Philippines, a bus station was inaugurated in Quezon City in Metro Manila (an area that is officially known as the National Capital Region) on the island of Luzon. This station is specifically located in Araneta City, an 86-acre (35-hectare) commercial mixed-use, transit-oriented development within Quezon City. The... Continue Reading →
March 13, 2004 On Kyūshū – the third largest of Japan’s five main islands – operations began for a newly completed passenger railway station in the city of Minamata. Shin-Minamata Station is served by both the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed trains (popularly known as bullet trains); and the Hisatsu Orange Railway Line. Shin-Minamata Station was designed... Continue Reading →
March 12, 1908 The first public demonstration of a powered aircraft flight in the United States took place near the village of Hammondsport, New York. “First Public Trip of Heavier-than-air Car in America,” announced a headline in the next day’s edition of the Washington Post. The aircraft used for that pioneering flight was the Red Wing. This... Continue Reading →
March 11, 2010 A major milestone for Stinson Municipal Airport, which is located seven miles (11.3 kilometers) south of downtown San Antonio in the south-central region of Texas, took place with the opening of a newly renovated runway. Runway 9-27, which previously had a length of 4,835 feet (1,473.7 meters), was extended to 5,002 feet... Continue Reading →
March 7, 2003 The U.S. Coast Guard cutter (USCGC) Oak (WLB 211) was officially commissioned as a seagoing buoy tender. This type of Coast Guard vessel is primarily used to maintain navigational floating aids. USCGC Oak made history as the first Coast Guard vessel to be commissioned after this federal uniformed service was incorporated into... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 