Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 23, 1940 United Air Lines (later retitled United Airlines) launched what is generally regarded as the first all-cargo air service in the United States. The maiden flight for this service began when one of the company’s planes left New York City at 11:50 p.m. This aircraft, which carried approximately 2,500 pounds (1,134 kilograms) of... Continue Reading →
December 22, 1907 In central Washington State, the first test runs of the Yakima Valley Transportation (YVT) Company interurban electric railroad were conducted. The company was established the previous July to secure the rights to a streetcar franchise that Yakima’s city government had originally granted to a failing railroad company. Andrew Jackson “Jack” Splawn became the new... Continue Reading →
December 21, 1804 The Rochdale Canal in northern England was officially opened. The plans for this canal had been prepared by civil engineer John Rennie, with the Rochdale Canal Company established in 1794 to coordinate the construction of the new waterway. While Rennie developed the designs for the Rochdale Canal, it has been widely acknowledged... Continue Reading →
December 18, 1898 French aristocrat Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the first official land speed record for an automobile. The 32-year-old Chasseloup-Laubat established this record of 39.3 miles (63.3 kilometers) while driving a Jeantaud Duc electric car at a competition that was sponsored by the magazine Le France Automobile and held in the commune of... Continue Reading →
December 17, 2006 The Eleanor Schonell Bridge was formally opened almost two months ahead of schedule in the city of Brisbane in the Australian state of Queensland. This 1,706-foot (520-meter)-long structure crosses the section of the Brisbane River between Brisbane’s inner suburb of Dutton Park and the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland... Continue Reading →
On April 23, 1960, a new portion of Interstate 20 (I-20) in the northern region of Louisiana was officially opened to traffic. The portion of that east-west route being inaugurated on that Saturday was a 9.7-mile (15.6-kilometer) segment between the city of Ruston and village of Choudrant. This segment was the longest stretch of Louisiana’s... Continue Reading →
December 15, 1912 Aviation pioneer Antony Habersack “Tony” Jannus arrived in New Orleans at the end of an extensive and record-setting flight that had begun in the Great Plains the previous month. Jannus had flown out of Omaha in a Benoist Land Tractor Type XII biplane on November 6. Jannus wanted to make this trip... Continue Reading →
December 14, 1903 The luxurious Merchants Limited, which became the premier passenger train of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH), first went into service. This train’s maiden journey was a late-in-the-day run between South Station in Boston and Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The next day’s edition of the Boston... Continue Reading →
December 11, 1997 Britannia, a vessel that had served as the royal yacht of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II for more than four decades, was decommissioned in a ceremony at the Portsmouth naval base on England’s south coast. Along with highlighting Britannia’s “brass fittings gleaming in the winter sunshine and flags rippling in a brisk... Continue Reading →
December 10, 1987 The Tsing Yi North Bridge in Hong Kong was officially dedicated. This prestressed balanced cantilever bridge, spanning the body of water known as Rambler Channel, connects the Tam Kon Shan Interchange on the northern part of Tsing Yi Island with the Tsuen Tsing Interchange (also called the Texaco Road Roundabout) in the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 