Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
January 13, 1879 Ada Anderson – a 35-year-old Englishwoman widely known as “Madame Anderson” – finished a 28-day-long pedestrian endurance event at Mozart Garden in Brooklyn, New York, that earned her international headlines. The next day’s edition of the Cincinnati Daily Star reported, “Madame Anderson has completed one of the most difficult tasks ever attempted by... Continue Reading →
January 12, 1913 Castle Point Lighthouse, located near the village of Castlepoint on the southeastern coast of New Zealand’s North Island, was first officially lit. The 75-foot (23-meter)-tall lighthouse was constructed to help guide and protect vessels sailing in the vicinity of the North Island’s southeastern shoreline, an area that can be dangerous due to local reefs and shallows... Continue Reading →
January 11, 1986 The Gateway Bridge, spanning the Brisbane River in the state of Queensland in northeastern Australia (specifically along the eastern suburbs of the city of Brisbane), was opened to the public. These inaugural festivities, which one newspaper characterized as “a resounding success,” included approximately 200,000 individuals walking across the new bridge. At that time,... Continue Reading →
January 8, 1954 The Southern Pacific Railroad’s Sunset Limited became the first train to use the newly opened New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal (NOUPT). This train, which had begun its journey on the west coast, arrived at NOUPT at 4:35 p.m. At 5:00 p.m., the Illinois Central Railroad’s Panama Limited became the first train to... Continue Reading →
January 7, 1785 The first-ever flight over the English Channel took place when French inventor and aviation pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American physician and scientist Dr. John Jeffries (at the time a British resident) traveled over that body of water in a gas balloon. The travel equipment on board the balloon included silk-covered oars for the... Continue Reading →
January 6, 1886 Russell Randolph Waesche, whose influential tenure as commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) included his strong advocacy of maritime safety, was born in Thurmont, Maryland. Waesche graduated from the U.S. Revenue Cutter School of Instruction in 1906, and was commissioned a Third Lieutenant (Ensign). He subsequently served on cutters in the North... Continue Reading →
January 5, 1903 Air navigator and aviation pioneer Harold Gatty was born in Campbell Town in the Australian state of Tasmania. Gatty’s navigational career began in earnest when he withdrew from the Royal Australian Naval College in 1920 to serve as an apprenticed ship’s officer with the Sydney-based Patrick Steamship Company. While employed by this... Continue Reading →
January 4, 1884 The national railway of Chile was established. Domingo Santa María, who served as president of Chile from 1881 to 1886, signed the decree authorizing this new means of transportation. The railway, which is officially called Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE), was created in large part to maintain a key transportation... Continue Reading →
December 31, 1909 New York City’s Manhattan Bridge, which crosses over the East River and links Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension, was officially opened to traffic. This structure joined the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges as the suspension bridges carrying traffic over the lower East River. At the time of... Continue Reading →
December 30, 1884 Stanley Terrill Kellogg was born in Fairfield, Connecticut. Kellogg grew up to be a major figure in the nascent U.S. motorcycle industry as both a rider and businessman. His high-profile involvement with that mode of transportation was first established at the nation’s racetracks starting in 1902. Over the next several years, Kellogg set numerous... Continue Reading →
