Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
On October 16, 1958, a dedication ceremony was held for the first part of Interstate 94 (I-94) in central North Dakota. This segment, covering 39 miles (62.8 kilometers) between the cities of Valley City and Jamestown in the eastern region of North Dakota, was also the first portion of the Interstate Highway System to be... Continue Reading →
December 8, 1862 After a few delays, a new lighthouse began operations off the western coast of the island of Guernsey in the English Channel. (Guernsey and several other islands in that vicinity of the channel have long constituted the British Crown dependency known as the Bailiwick of Guernsey.) That lighthouse is specifically situated on... Continue Reading →
December 7, 1891 A rail tunnel that had been built underneath the St. Clair River as a new transportation route between Canada and the United States was opened to passengers. This tunnel was specifically constructed to connect the town (now city) of Sarnia in the Canadian province of Ontario with the city of Port Huron... Continue Reading →
December 4, 1991 On the same day that Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) officially came to an end and halted its longtime operations, that airline’s final flight took place. Captain Mark Pyle piloted the airplane Clipper Goodwill, a Pan Am Boeing 727-221ADV, for Flight 436 between the cities of Bridgetown, Barbados, and Miami, Florida. ... Continue Reading →
December 3, 1967 After 65 years of service, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) express passenger train 20th Century Limited completed its final journey. The half-full train pulled into LaSalle Street Station in Chicago at 6:45 p.m. The Limited had actually been scheduled to arrive nine hours earlier, but was delayed due to a freight... Continue Reading →
On January 19, 1967, a recently completed segment of U.S. Highway 49 (US 49) in Mississippi made its official debut. This segment encompassed 16 miles (25.8 kilometers) between the town of Mount Olive and the community of Weathersby (now part of the city of Mendenhall) in the Magnolia State’s south-central region. The dedication ceremony for... Continue Reading →
December 1, 1913 The Buenos Aires Underground mass transit network, which serves the metropolitan region of Argentina’s capital city, was officially dedicated. With the inauguration of this network, Buenos Aires became only the 13th city in the world to have an underground subway system. In addition, the Buenos Aires Underground was the first public transportation service... Continue Reading →
John Beargrease, who was also known as Eshquabi, was born in the vicinity of Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior in 1858. He was the son of Moquabimetem, a chief of the Ojibwe people in that region. (The Ojibwe people are part of the group of Native American tribes collectively called the Anishinaabe.) Moquabimetem also... Continue Reading →
November 25, 1931 A suspension bridge crossing the Ohio River was opened. This structure, which had been designed by the firm Modjeski and Masters, serves as a link between the city of Maysville, Kentucky, and the village of Aberdeen, Ohio. The 1,991-foot (607-meter)-long bridge was named after Simon Kenton (1755-1836), a famous frontiersman and soldier... Continue Reading →
November 24, 2007 The Lynx Blue Line first went into service in Charlotte, North Carolina. This light rail line, which is owned and operated by the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), made history as the first major rapid rail service in the Tar Heel State. On the day of Lynx’s formal debut, CATS allowed all... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 