Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 22, 1925 A ferry named the MV Crosline was launched in the western region of Seattle. This wooden diesel-powered ship had been designed by naval architect L.H. Coolidge. Crosline was built by the Marine Construction Company for entrepreneur Harry W. Crosby to use in his recently established ferry service in that part of the... Continue Reading →
June 21, 1815 Thomas Smith, an engineer who made notable contributions to the illumination of street lights as well as far-flung lighthouses, died at his home at 2 Baxter’s Place in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. He was 62. Smith was born on December 6, 1752, in Broughty Ferry, a suburb of the Scottish city... Continue Reading →
June 20, 1987 In the Downtown Core of Singapore’s Central Area, a dedication ceremony was held for a bus terminal along Shenton Way. (Shenton Way is major trunk road serving that region of Singapore.) This original version of Shenton Way Bus Terminal was located under the elevated section of the East Coast Parkway. The first... Continue Reading →
June 16, 1941 In the Washington, D.C., area, Washington National Airport (now formally known as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) first went into service. “Washington Airport Opened to Air Lines Without Ceremonies,” stated a headline in that day’s edition of the Baltimore Sun. This federally owned and operated airport was preceded by two privately owned... Continue Reading →
June 15, 1962 A newly built lighthouse on Sullivan’s Island, located at the northern entrance to Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, was first lit. “It’s unique among the hundreds of lighthouses in the nation in that its tower is triangular; the better to withstand hurricane winds that periodically pound the coast,” asserted an Associated Press... Continue Reading →
June 14, 1917 A little over two months after the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allied Powers, the steam yacht Legonia II was commissioned in Baltimore for service in the U.S. Navy. This vessel had been purchased only eight days earlier from William B. Hurst, a prominent Baltimore resident.... Continue Reading →
June 13, 1931 The St. Johns Bridge was dedicated in Portland, Oregon. This steel suspension bridge, which carries the U.S. Route 30 Bypass over the Willamette River, links Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood with the industrial area near the community of Linnton. Renowned engineer David B. Steinman (1886-1960), whose many structural accomplishments include Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge,... Continue Reading →
June 12, 1979 The original version of the Gossamer Albatross became the first human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel. This aircraft had been designed and built by a team led by aeronautical engineer Paul B. MacCready at the American technology company AeroVironment. Amateur cyclist Bryan Allen was the one who piloted the Albatross across the... Continue Reading →
June 9, 2003 In the eastern region of the Republic of Ireland, a bridge in the Boyne Valley was formally opened to motor vehicle traffic. This bridge, spanning the River Boyne, is located about two miles (3.2 kilometers) west of Drogheda (a town straddling the boundary between Counties Meath and Louth of the province of... Continue Reading →
June 8, 1809 The steamboat Phoenix departed from New York City for Philadelphia. This voyage would earn the Phoenix a place in transportation history as the first steamboat to sail the open ocean. The Phoenix was built about two years earlier in Hoboken, New Jersey, by engineer and lawyer John Stevens (1749-1838) and his son... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 