Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 23, 1917 A private motorboat named Natoma was commissioned into the U.S. Navy about four-and-a-half months after the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allied Powers. Natoma had been designed and built in 1913 as a vessel for Charles H. Foster, president of the Cadillac Motor Car Company of... Continue Reading →
August 22, 2015 A bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists was opened in the Christianshavn neighborhood of Copenhagen. This structure, which was formally named the Circle Bridge, spans the southern mouth of the Christianshavn Canal in Denmarkâs capital city. The 130-foot (40-meter)-long Circle Bridge encompasses a total of five round platforms. Each of these platforms has... Continue Reading →
August 19, 1929 In skies above the Detroit area, a one-of-a-kind airship manufactured for the U.S. Navy made its first flight. The ZMC-2 was created by the Detroit-based Aircraft Development Corporation and is the only successfully operated all-metal airship ever built. (ZMC stood for âZeppelin Metal Clad.â) While nicknamed the âTin Bubble,â the teardrop-shaped ZMC-2 --... Continue Reading →
August 18, 1904 A newly completed lighthouse in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia was first lit. This lighthouse, which is located in the community of Gilbertâs Cove on the western coast of Nova Scotia, was built primarily to help guide schooners sailing up and down St. Maryâs Bay in that region of Canada. Many... Continue Reading →
August 17, 1807 The worldâs first commercially successful steamboat service was launched when the North River Steamboat left New York City for Albany, New York, via the Hudson River (widely known at that time as the North River). The North River Steamboat -- often erroneously called the Clermont instead -- had been built at New York... Continue Reading →
August 16, 1928 San Diego Municipal Airport-Lindbergh Field was dedicated. The construction of this California-based airport, made possible by a bond issue passed by the city government of San Diego, had been inspired in large part by Charles Lindberghâs historic solo transatlantic flight the previous year. The site of the new facility was near the airstrip... Continue Reading →
August 15, 1893 Construction was completed on a passenger train station at Ninth and Spruce Streets in Terre Haute, Indiana. Terre Haute Union Station was designed by Cincinnati-based architect Samuel Hannaford. In the course of its 67 years of existence, this three-and-a-half-story building served the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad; the Terre Haute & Indianapolis... Continue Reading →
August 12, 1908 In Michigan, a new era in motorboats began when marine designer John L. Hacker purchased the vessel manufacturer Detroit Launch & Power Company and renamed it the Hacker Boat Company. The 31-year-old Hacker, bringing into play his expert craftsmanship and a wealth of ideas for design improvements, would revolutionize the use of... Continue Reading →
August 11, 1955 Franklin Augustus âFrankâ Seiberling, an entrepreneur and inventor who left a lasting imprint on the production of tires for motor vehicles, died in his longtime hometown of Akron, Ohio. âFrank Augustus Seiberling was a man of large gestures, lordly gambles, strong friendships, occasional humor, and invariable fighting courage,â noted the next dayâs... Continue Reading →
August 10, 1840 American aeronaut Louis Anselm Lauriat traveled in his hydrogen balloon Star of the East in the skies above the present-day Canadian province of New Brunswick. This excursion was the first piloted flight in Canada. At that time, New Brunswick was a British colony; in 1867, it became one of the four original... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 