Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 5, 1997 Parque Bustamante (Bustamante Park) station, a facility of Line 5 of the Chilean rapid transit system known as the Santiago Metro, first went into service in the commune of Providencia in the vicinity of Chile’s capital city of Santiago. This underground station owes its name to the urban park that is located... Continue Reading →
February 14, 1920 In the Republic of Colombia, the first flight at an airport serving the city of Cartagena took place. The pilot for this flight was Jourdanet Jacques René Bazin, who flew a plane named Cartagena in the skies above that Caribbean port city. There were two passengers aboard the plane for this pioneering... Continue Reading →
January 18, 1852 A new version of Barra Rio Grande Lighthouse in southern Brazil first went into service. (At the time, most of the territory comprising the present-day Federative Republic of Brazil was instead part of the Empire of Brazil.) This lighthouse is specifically located on a sandy strip between the Lagoa dos Patos (the... Continue Reading →
December 16, 2019 A total of three monorail train stations were formally opened on Line 15 (Silver) in São Paulo, which is Brazil’s most populous city and the capital of the state of São Paulo. The facilities inaugurated on that day were the stations São Mateus, Sapopemba, and Fazenda da Juta. The public officials taking... Continue Reading →
December 13, 1969 In northeastern Argentina, an underwater road tunnel was officially opened between the provinces of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe. This tunnel, measuring 7,864 feet (2,397 meters) in length, carries National Route 168 across the Paraná River. The tunnel serves as a link between Entre Ríos province’s capital city of Paraná and an... Continue Reading →
December 12, 1918 Lieutenant Dagoberto Godoy of the Chilean Army completed a record-breaking flight when he piloted a monoplane over the Andes. In April of that year, Lieutenant Luis C. Candelaria of the Argentine Army had become the first person to fly a plane over that mountain range when he piloted a French-built Morane-Saulnier Parasol... Continue Reading →
December 5, 1919 The airline popularly known today as Avianca was established as Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transporte Aéro (the Colombian-German Air Transport Society), or SCADTA, in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia. The founders of SCADTA were -- on behalf of business interests in Colombia -- Ernesto Cortissoz (who served as its first president), Rafael Palacio, Cristóbal... Continue Reading →
October 24, 1953 In the northern part of Chile, a lighthouse first went into service on a beach in the city and commune of La Serena. This lighthouse was officially inaugurated by Juan Cortés Alcayaga, mayor of La Serena. The Monumental Lighthouse of La Serena (Faro Monumental de La Serena) was designed by Ramiro Pérez... Continue Reading →
October 20, 2015 After more than a half-century without any tram (streetcar) service in Medellín, the transit system known as the Ayacucho Tram was formally launched in that major Colombian city. The Ayacucho Tram, which is operated by the rapid transit network Medellín Metro, is currently the only tram service in all of Colombia. For... Continue Reading →
October 11, 1948 Capitán Vicente Almandos Almonacid Airport in La Rioja Province in western Argentina was officially opened. This airport serves as the principal one for that province. Capitán Vicente Almandos Almonacid Airport is specifically located in the northeastern part of the city of La Rioja, which is the capital of the province sharing its... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 