Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
A key moment in Norway’s aviation history took place when two Norwegian Army Air Force pilots embarked on a scouting expedition to find a suitable location for a military airfield. The pilots conducted their search in the vicinity of the town of Lillestrøm in southeastern Norway. After two days of carefully surveying the region, the... Continue Reading →
In the Republic of Turkey, the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul was completed about two years after construction on it had begun. The completion of the 4,950-foot-long bridge was formally commemorated by having Turgut Özal, who was Turkey’s prime minister at the time, become the first person to drive an automobile across the new... Continue Reading →
On a Sunday evening in South Australia, a new lighthouse made its formal debut at Cape du Couedic on Kangaroo Island. It had taken approximately three years to build the 82-foot-tall Cape du Couedic Lighthouse. G.G. Duthie was named the head keeper for the new lighthouse, with G.E. Luckett and G. Marmant appointed to assist... Continue Reading →
René Pottier, who became a formidable racing cyclist during the early 20th century, was born in the commune of Moret-sur-Loing (now part of the commune Moret-Loing-er-Orvanne) in northern France. Pottier took part in the April 1905 edition of the Paris-Roubaix, a one-day cycle race of about 167 miles, and came in second. He placed second... Continue Reading →
Augusto Pestana, who achieved fame as both a transportation engineer and public official, was born in Rio Janeiro at a time when the city was the capital of the Empire of Brazil. Pestana attended Escola Politécnica do Rio de Janeiro, the oldest engineering school in Brazil, and graduated from there at age 20 with a... Continue Reading →
Mary Ann Brown Patten – through highly unexpected and unique circumstances – became the first female commander of a U.S. merchant vessel. Her husband Joshua Patten was a sea captain who, in 1856, was given command of the clipper ship Neptune’s Car for a voyage from New York to San Francisco to transport cargo. Mary,... Continue Reading →
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Transportation History 