Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 2, 1594 Gerardus Mercator, whose influential work in cartography included a seminal 1569 map that depicted sailing courses worldwide, died at the age of 82 in the city of Duisburg in present-day Germany. He had been born on March 5, 1512, in the town of Rupelmonde in what is now Belgium. Mercator established a niche... Continue Reading →
November 26, 1931 Thanksgiving Day in 1931 proved to be memorable in New York City. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade started at 1:30 that afternoon in Manhattan at 110th and Broadway. The large helium balloons being carried in that year’s parade included a turkey, a dragon, a two-headed Martian, the popular cartoon star Felix the... Continue Reading →
November 25, 1949 The one-millionth Cadillac rolled off the production line a little more than 47 years after the first model of this automobile was built. The one-millionth Cadillac was a Coupe de Ville. This automotive milestone was officially announced by John F. Gordon (1900-1978), general manager of General Motors’ Cadillac motor car division. In making... Continue Reading →
November 21, 2022 On Norway’s west coast, the second line of a light rail system in the city and municipality of Bergen first went into service. This took place three days after the inaugural ceremony for this new route was held. The second line encompasses 5.6 miles (nine kilometers) between Kaigaten in Bergen’s borough of... Continue Reading →
November 20, 1854 One of the first bridges to be built in the Italian city of Venice was opened to the public. This steel bridge for pedestrians spanned the Grand Canal, which is the main canal crossing Venice’s historic center. While there had been discussions about constructing a bridge in this vicinity as far... Continue Reading →
November 19, 2022 Yerba Buena/Moscone station in San Francisco’s South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood was officially opened. This underground light rail station, which is a link in the T Third Street line of the San Francisco Municipal Railway’s Muni Metro system, owes its name to both Yerba Buena/Moscone Gardens and Moscone Convention Center in that... Continue Reading →
November 18, 1949 A new aviation record was established when a U.S. Air Force (USAF) C-74 Globemaster plane transporting 103 people landed at the Royal Air Force (RAF) station near the village of Marham, England. This 82-ton (74.4-metric ton) plane, which was known as the Champ and reached its destination approximately 23 hours after flying... Continue Reading →
November 14, 1874 Operations began for a lighthouse in a section of the Hudson River within New York’s southeastern region. This navigational aid, which was constructed to help guide vessels safely around a treacherous part of the river known as the Middle Ground Flats, is specifically located between the cities of Hudson and Athens. As... Continue Reading →
November 13, 2017 A newly completed train station in the San Francisco Bay Area’s city of Fairfield was opened. This station provides access for residents of both Fairfield and the neighboring city of Vacaville to Amtrak California’s Capitol Corridor rail line. The facility -- originally called Fairfield-Vacaville station -- is also a transfer hub for... Continue Reading →
November 12, 2008 Operations fully began for a state-of-the-art terminal at Indianapolis International Airport. (This airport, which dates back to 1931, was originally known as Indianapolis Municipal Airport.) The new terminal was named after H. Weir Cook, one of the Hoosier State’s most prominent miliary heroes and aviation trailblazers. Cook had been born in 1892... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 