Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 23, 2013 A station of the Paris Métro rapid transit system made its debut near the town hall of Montrouge, a commune in the southern suburbs of France’s capital city. This station is formally known as Mairie de Montrouge (Town Hall of Montrouge), and it was the 302nd station of the Paris Métro to... Continue Reading →
March 22, 2016 A pedestrian bridge at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) was officially opened to foot traffic. The Moody Pedestrian Bridge crosses over a section of West Dean Keaton Street that is near the outer edge of that university’s campus. This bridge serves as a connection between facilities that are part... Continue Reading →
March 19, 1878 The Point Moore Lighthouse in the British crown colony (now state) of Western Australia (WA) was first lit. This 111.6-foot (34-meter) navigational aid is located about three miles (five kilometers) south of the downtown area of the coastal city of Geraldton in WA’s Mid West region. At the time of its debut,... Continue Reading →
March 18, 1917 Calvin Lambert became the first person to ride a motorcycle to the top of a rugged hill in the city of San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, California. San Juan Capistrano was famous by that time for the then-yearly return of the white-bellied cliff swallows to the city just in time for spring... Continue Reading →
March 17, 1929 At the California-based Oakland Municipal Airport (now Oakland International Airport), 23-year-old Ira Louise McPhetridge Thaden completed a plane flight in which she set a new women’s endurance record for staying airborne. She brought her Travel Air biplane back down onto the airfield 22 hours, three minutes, and 12 seconds after flying from there... Continue Reading →
March 16, 1957 In the state of Western Australia (WA), plans for a major transportation project in the city of Perth moved further towards full-fledged reality. John Digby Leach, who served as WA’s commissioner of main roads from 1953 to 1966, became the catalyst for this milestone when he signed a contract for building a... Continue Reading →
March 15, 2014 The second phase of the construction of the Southern Expressway (formally designated as E01) in Sri Lanka was officially completed with the opening of that segment to the public. This section of the Southern Expressway connects the major cities of Galle and Matara on Sri Lanka’s southern coast. Construction on the Southern... Continue Reading →
March 12, 1831 Clement Studebaker, a wagon and carriage manufacturer who helped establish and nurture a formidable family legacy when it came to surface transportation, was born in Pinetown, Pennsylvania. He learned the blacksmith trade as a teenager in his father’s shop and later worked as a teacher. In 1852, he and his older brother Henry formally... Continue Reading →
March 11, 1967 The Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel in Canada was officially opened. This Quebec-based structure, which runs both over and beneath the St. Lawrence River and carries the Autoroute 25 expressway, links the Island of Montreal with the south shore of that river at the city of Longueuil. This bridge-tunnel was named in honor of noted... Continue Reading →
Minnesota native Clara Marian Wagner (1891-1961) was one of the first women – if not the first woman – to take part in motorcycle competitions. Her strong enthusiasm for motorcycles at a young age was hardly surprising. After all, her father was the owner of the Wagner Motorcycle Company in St. Paul. George Wagner had... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 