Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
More than three weeks after being completed, the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway in northern India’s National Capital Region was formally opened. This highway, measuring 17.2 miles (27.7 kilometers) in length, connects the Dhaula Kuan neighborhood of Delhi (officially called the National Capital Territory of Delhi) with the city of Gurugram (officially known as Gurgaon until 2016). The... Continue Reading →
Automobile designer Gordon M. Buehrig died in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, at the age of 85. Buehrig had been born in Mason City, Illinois, in 1904. Early on in life, he developed a robust enthusiasm for automobiles and drawing pictures of them – an enthusiasm that wasn’t always readily shared or even encouraged by others. ... Continue Reading →
Briggs Cunningham, an entrepreneur and sportsman who made notable contributions involving both yachts and automobiles, was born in Cincinnati. Early on in life, Cunningham spent summers with his family in the northeastern United States. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Southport, Connecticut. Cunningham was 17 when he joined the Star Class racing... Continue Reading →
A train station was opened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to provide direct service to General Mitchell International Airport in that metropolitan area. The groundbreaking for the Milwaukee Airport Railroad Station had taken place during the summer of 2004. Those cutting the ceremonial ribbon for the formal debut of the facility on January 18, 2005, were Wisconsin... Continue Reading →
In the present-day Republic of Turkey, an underground rail line made its official debut in Constantinople (now Istanbul). At the time, Constantinople was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Tünel (the Turkish word for “tunnel”) is located at the northern shore of the Bosphorus strait’s primary inlet popularly known as the Golden Horn. The... Continue Reading →
In Australia, a record-setting passenger ferry began her maiden voyage. MS Empress of Australia, which was built for and operated by the Australian National Line (ANL), departed Sydney in New South Wales for Hobart in Tasmania amid a great deal of fanfare. “Bright lights, streamers, cabin parties and ship-side crowds heralded the beginning of the... Continue Reading →
In southwestern Florida, a new mile (1.6-kilometer)-long bridge across the Peace River in Charlotte County made its formal debut. More than six decades earlier, the first bridge spanning that section of the river had been opened. This original structure, located just east of the current bridge, connected Live Oak Point on the river’s north bank... Continue Reading →
Nearly a year-and-a-half after the U.S. Congress appropriated $25,000 to build a lighthouse on the section of Fenwick Island in Delaware, the federal government paid someone named Mary C. Hall a mere $50 for a 10-acre (4.1-hectare) tract of land for the new structure. This location for the planned Fenwick Island Lighthouse was widely believed... Continue Reading →
Carl von Ghega, who established himself as one of the leading transportation engineers of the Austrian Empire, was born in Venice, Italy. (At the time of von Ghega’s birth, Venice was under Austrian rule.) His father was an Austrian Navy officer, but von Ghega pursued engineering as his life’s work instead. After studying mathematics in... Continue Reading →
In Great Britain, a longtime transportation era came to an end when the mail trains known as Travelling Post Offices made their final runs. “Mail trains have reached the end of the line,” proclaimed BBC News. “After more than 160 years of service, the Travelling Post Office – where post is sorted en route on... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 