Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 10, 1908 The Thamshavn Line, Norway’s first electric railway, made its debut. The initial segment of this trailblazing line was formally opened by Norway’s King Haakon VII (1872-1957). This railway was built to carry ore from the mines at the village of Løkken Verk in central Norway to the ports of Orkanger and Thamshavn... Continue Reading →
July 9, 1923 The Logan Valley Bus Company (LVBC) began operations in the vicinity of Altoona, Pennsylvania, in the south-central region of the Keystone State. (A portion of this area has long been known as Logan Valley.) The LVBC was formed the previous week as a subsidiary of the Altoona & Logan Valley (A&LV) Electric... Continue Reading →
July 8, 2007 The Badger State Trail in south-central Wisconsin was officially opened. This 40-mile (64-kilometer) trail courses from the state boundary with Illinois to Wisconsin’s capital city of Madison. In between those two points, the Badger State Trail passes through – from south to north – the city of Monroe; the villages of Monticello... Continue Reading →
July 5, 1917 The U.S. Navy acquired a wooden-hulled screw steam yacht named the Admiral from Gordon Dexter (186-1937), president of the Connecticut-based Submarine Signal Company. This acquisition took place three months after the United States’ entry in World War I on the side of the Allied Powers and at a time when the Navy... Continue Reading →
July 3, 1938 On the eve of the United States’ 162nd birthday, NBC Radio conducted a nationwide broadcast commemorating the Lincoln Highway a quarter-century after an association was established to promote that coast-to-coast vehicular road. This radio program featured interviews with several Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) officials who had been instrumental in helping to create ... Continue Reading →
July 2, 1927 The Ferguson Highway was formally dedicated in the province of Ontario, Canada. The public official presiding over this inauguration of the highway on a Saturday afternoon was William Finlayson (1876-1943), Ontario’s minister of lands and forests. The 260-mile (420-kilometer)-long gravel road, which stretched from the town of Cochrane to the city of North... Continue Reading →
July 1, 2002 On Japan’s island of Shikoku, a passenger railway station was opened in the town of Kagami in Kōchi Prefecture. (In 2006, Kagami became part of the newly formed city of Kōnan; however, the name of the station has remained the same.) Kagami Station is located on the 26.5-mile (42.7-kilometer)-long Asa Line of... Continue Reading →
June 26, 1919 A caravan of motor trucks carrying a total of 50 specially selected boy scouts headed out of Akron, Ohio, for a journey of about 2,000 miles (3,218.7 kilometers) through nine states altogether. This Wednesday departure from northeastern Ohio’s Summit County marked the start of what Vehicle Monthly magazine characterized as “one of the... Continue Reading →
June 25, 1982 In Switzerland, the Furka Base Tunnel connecting the village of Oberwald with the municipality of Realp was opened. At the time, this structure was the world’s longest narrow-gauge tunnel. This 9.6-mile (15.4-kilometer)-long rail tunnel, which took nine years to build in the face of formidable engineering challenges, has made it possible for the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn... Continue Reading →
June 24, 1981 The Humber Bridge in northeastern England was opened to traffic. This 7,280-foot (2,220-meter)-long single-span suspension bridge carries the A15 road over the Humber -- a large tidal estuary jointly formed by the rivers Trent and Ouse -- between the town and civil parish of Barton-upon-Humber on the south bank; and the town, civil... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 