Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 13, 1877 In Australia’s colony (now state) of New South Wales (NSW), a railway station in the town of Quirindi was opened to considerable fanfare. This station was built as a link for the Main North Line – also called the Great Northern Railway – in that region of Australia. The next day’s edition... Continue Reading →
August 12, 2004 In Greece, a bridge crossing the Gulf of Corinth (an inlet of the Ionian Sea) was opened to the public. This bridge serves as a link between the towns of Rio (also known as Rion) on the Pelponnese peninsula and Antirrio on the country’s western mainland. The Rio-Antirrio Bridge carries the Greek... Continue Reading →
August 9, 1943 With the United States deeply embroiled in World War II at the time, the U.S. Navy purchased the steamship Zizania for military use on the home front. This acquisition marked only the latest of several major milestones for this longtime and multi-faceted vessel. The origins of Zizania, which owed her name to... Continue Reading →
August 8, 2011 In the Detroit metropolitan area, a newly built intermodal terminal station in the city of Pontiac was officially dedicated. The public officials on hand for this ceremony included Gary Peters, who was the U.S. representative for that region of Michigan at the time and now serves the Great Lakes State as one... Continue Reading →
August 7, 1919 Ernest Charles Hoy (1895-1982), who had recently distinguished himself as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot during World War I, achieved a major aviation milestone when he flew a Curtiss JN-4 biplane across the Canadian Rockies. This marked the first-ever crossing of that steep mountain range by air. In an account of... Continue Reading →
August 6, 2018 In northern India, the Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh station on the Delhi Metro’s Pink Lane was officially opened. The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving the city and union territory of Delhi and also the nearby cities of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, and Ghaziabad in India’s National Capital Region.... Continue Reading →
August 5, 1914 What are widely regarded as the world’s first electric traffic lights made their debut at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Alfred A. Benesch (1879-1973), the city’s director of public safety, placed the lights in operation at 5:00 p.m. Those also on hand for that launch included other... Continue Reading →
August 2, 1886 A railway station was inaugurated in the village of Yenice in what is now southern Turkey's Mersin province. Yenice was designated as a town in 1953; since 2013, it has been a neighborhood of the municipality and district of Tarsus. At the time of Yenice station’s opening, this region was part of... Continue Reading →
August 1, 1894 Ottavio Bottecchia, who would achieve widespread renown as a champion cyclist, was born in the comune of Colle Umberto in northeastern Italy. He was the eighth of nine children. Bottecchia had only one year of formal schooling. His earliest jobs included working as a shoemaker and then a bricklayer. After Italy entered... Continue Reading →
July 31, 1989 Savage station, which is based in central Maryland, first went into regular service early on a Monday morning. This station is part of the Camden Line of the MARC commuter rail system and it is specifically located between the communities of Savage in Howard County and Annapolis Junction in both Howard and... Continue Reading →
