Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
May 25, 1884 The San Juan de Salvamento Lighthouse made its debut on Isla de los Estados, a remote island within Argentina’s section of the archipelago Tierra del Fuego. Isla de los Estados is located 18 miles (29 kilometers) off the easternmost point of that archipelago’s main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.... Continue Reading →
May 24, 2007 The Cotswold Way, a footpath in southwestern England, was officially designated a National Trail. National Trails encompass long-distance footpaths and bridleways in both England and Wales and are administered by Natural England, a non-departmental public agency of the United Kingdom; and Natural Resources Wales, a Welsh Government-sponsored body that was formed in... Continue Reading →
In 2020, Josephine Tauoa made U.S. Navy history as the first female American Samoan to be promoted to command master chief petty officer. (An unincorporated territory of the United States, American Samoa is southeast of the independent state of Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean.) As command master chief petty officer (CMC), Tauoa serves as... Continue Reading →
May 20, 2014 A dedication ceremony was held for a single-span bridge in Dublin, Ireland. This structure -- measuring 157 feet (48 meters) in length and 85 feet (26 meters) in width -- crosses the River Liffey and serves as a link between Marlborough and Hawkins Streets in Ireland’s capital city. The bridge is used... Continue Reading →
May 19, 1869 In Australia, a railway station in the town of Musclebrook in the colony (now state) of New South Wales (NSW) was officially opened with considerable fanfare. (That town in the east-central section of NSW is now known as Muswellbrook.) This station was built as part of the NSW-based Great Northern Railway (the... Continue Reading →
May 18, 1908 Stanley Johnson Marx, who would serve as the head of a leading and influential school bus manufacturer on the west coast of the United States, was born in Oakland, California. In 1927, Marx began working for the California-based Gillig Brothers Company as a mechanic. This company traced its origins to a carriage and wagon shop established in... Continue Reading →
May 17, 2018 A station on Line H of the Buenos Aires Underground rapid transit system (Subterráneo de Buenos Aires) was officially opened. This station in the northern section of Argentina’s capital and largest city is adjacent to its namesake, the University of Buenos Aires’ law school (formally known as the Faculty of Law, or... Continue Reading →
In the early part of 1942 – not long after the United States entered World War II on the side of the Allies -- the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company established an emergency shipyard along the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, to construct vessels for the global fight against the Axis powers. The Vancouver Shipyard started out... Continue Reading →
May 13, 1885 In Australia, the opening of a railway in the village of Oatlands in the central part of the island colony (now state) of Tasmania was celebrated with much enthusiasm. The Oatlands Railway was built as a short branch of the Main Line (also known as the South Line), a freight rail corridor... Continue Reading →
May 12, 1968 After three decades of service, the trolleybus system in Northern Ireland’s capital city of Belfast officially ceased operations. (Belfast also has the distinction of being the largest city in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.) The original trolleybuses for this system made their first runs on March 28, 1938,... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 