Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 5, 1927 Under the command of Brazilian aviator João Ribeiro de Barros, the Savoia-Marchetti S.55 hydroplane known as Jahú first touched down on the South American mainland as part of its long-distance flight across much of the South Atlantic. This aircraft landed at the city of Natal in northeastern Brazil 38 days after departing... Continue Reading →
June 4, 1933 In the northeastern New Jersey township of Nutley, a cycle-racing track was opened in what the Chatham Press newspaper called “a most auspicious manner” and with a standing-room-only crowd of 12,000 people in attendance. The Nutley Velodrome consisted of a saucer-shaped track made of wood and covered with galvanized sheets. The competitors taking... Continue Reading →
June 3, 1921 One of the most famous symbols of an American transportation company made its debut. This symbol was the bulldog representing what is now Mack Trucks, Inc. and it first appeared when the business was known as the International Motor Truck Corporation. More than two decades earlier, the brothers Jack and Gus -- seeking... Continue Reading →
May 31, 1969 A major tunnel that is located just south of the Belgian city of Antwerp and had been built under the Scheldt river first went into service when it was opened to motor vehicle traffic. Another milestone for this tunnel took place just a little over eight months later when it was opened... Continue Reading →
May 30, 2014 In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the first part of an aerial cable car transit system serving country’s La Paz- El Alto region officially began operations. This system, known as Mi Teleférico (Spanish for “My Cable Car”), took shape in July 2012. That is when Evo Morales Avma, who was president of... Continue Reading →
Lori M.K. Kahikina is the head of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), a semi-autonomous agency that serves the City and County of Honolulu on Hawaii’s island of Oahu. She was named HART’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer in 2021 and is responsible for the design and construction of the Honolulu Rail Transit... Continue Reading →
May 28, 1818 A pioneering sidewheel steamboat known as Walk-in-the-Water was launched at Black Rock, New York. (An independent community at that time, Black Rock is now part of Buffalo.) Walk-in-the-Water became the first steam-powered vessel to sail on Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan. An engineer named Noah Brown designed Walk-in-the-Water. Robert McQueen was the... Continue Reading →
May 24, 1915 Civil engineer Arthur Hale applied for a patent for his design of a road interchange focused on facilitating the flow of automobile traffic. Hale, who resided in the village of Rowlandsville in Maryland, characterized this design as one that contained “certain new and useful improvements in street crossings.” Hale’s proposed interchange consisted... Continue Reading →
May 23, 2009 In New York City’s borough of the Bronx, daily operations began for a station of the suburban commuter transit system Metro-North Railroad. This new stop was the Yankees- East 153rd Street station on Metro-North Railroad’s Hudson Line. The station was constructed to serve both Yankee Stadium and the Bronx’s Concourse neighborhood. It... Continue Reading →
In 1977, Alma M. Grocki became the first woman from Hawaii to enter the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA). She was also part of this service academy’s second class of women. Grocki, who had been born in Honolulu as Alma Lau, recalled nearly four decades later what led her to pursue a naval career. “I decided... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 