Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
September 16, 1946 In the aftermath of World War II, the airline Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali was formally instituted in Rome. “British European Airways and the Italian Institute for Industrial Reconstruction signed an agreement today establishing a new British-Italian airline to be called the ‘Italian International Airlines,’” reported the Associated Press. “At the start the line... Continue Reading →
August 12, 1971 Walter Owen “W.O.” Bentley, who achieved renown for the automobiles that he designed and built, died in a nursing home in northwestern England’s town and borough of Woking. He was 83. Bentley was born on September 16, 1888, in the Hampstead area of London. He attended Clifton College in Bristol from 1902... Continue Reading →
August 12, 1911 The Chicago International Aviation Meet was formally launched. This eight-day air show, which was characterized by the Indiana-based Logansport Journal as “the greatest aggregation of human birds ever assembled,” took place in the section of Grant Park that is along Lake Michigan. The event was held under the aegis of the International Aviation... Continue Reading →
August 8, 1929 An airport built about two miles (1.6 kilometers) southeast of the downtown area of Salem, Oregon, was officially dedicated. As the 1920s was fast approaching its end, the development of facilities to support airborne transportation had become a top priority for numerous municipalities throughout the United States -- including the capital of the... Continue Reading →
July 16, 1938 Operations began for an airport in the town and borough of Luton in England. (Luton, which originated as a Saxon settlement in the sixth century, is approximately 32 miles [50 kilometers] northwest of London.) Luton Airport was officially opened on that Saturday by Sir Kingsley Wood (1881-1943), who had become the British... Continue Reading →
July 10, 1947 The maiden flight of the prototype of the Airspeed Ambassador, a twin piston-engined airliner, took place in the skies above England’s southern coast. This plane, which was designed and manufactured by the British aeronautical engineering company Airspeed Ltd., became one of the first airliners to be produced and introduced in England during... Continue Reading →
July 7, 1942 Exactly seven months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Gulfport Army Airfield in southern Mississippi was opened as a small but still pivotal part of the United States’ overall involvement in World War II on the side of the Allies. This airport in the city of Gulfport was built by the U.S. Army... Continue Reading →
July 1, 1872 Transportation pioneer Louis Blériot was born in the city of Cambrai in northern France. He studied engineering at École Centrale (now part of CentraleSupélec) in Paris. Automobiles became the first means of transportation in which Blériot became actively involved. He developed the world’s first practical headlamps for these vehicles by using a... Continue Reading →
June 20, 1897 Harold Frederick Pitcairn, who made major contributions to various types of aircraft, was born in Moreland Township in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 1916, residents in the central part of this township broke away to form what is now the home-rule borough of Bryn Athyn; the following year, the remainder of the township was... Continue Reading →
June 10, 1909 Aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright were formally honored by President William Howard Taft for their considerable airborne accomplishments. The ceremony, which was held in the East Room of the White House, took place about five-and-a-half years after the brothers made transportation history with the world’s first controlled, powered, and sustained heavier-than-air... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 