Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
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 →
A trailblazing pilot, Mildred Hemmons Carter started out life in the community of Isabella (also known as Benson) in central Alabama. She was born there on September 14, 1921, to Mamie and Luther Hemmons. Mildred and her family eventually moved to the city of Tuskegee in the eastern part of the state. After living there... Continue Reading →
June 11, 1910 Cerchez & Co., the first aircraft company in Romania, was formally inaugurated. (At this time, the present-day republic of Romania was still a kingdom.) Cerchez & Co. was located in the town of Chitilia, which is near Romania’s capital and largest city of Bucharest. This company was owned and operated by lawyer... Continue Reading →
May 2, 1906 Thomas F. Airis, who would become director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Highways and Traffic (a predecessor of the present-day District Department of Transportation) was born in the town of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He earned his degree in, civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin. In 1929, Airis joined the... Continue Reading →
August 16, 1974 In the Republic of South Africa, Lanseria International Airport in the province of Gauteng was officially opened. This airport is located to the northwest of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. Those taking part in the inauguration of Lanseria International Airport included Hannes Rall, the county’s minister of transport at that... Continue Reading →
December 19, 1946 In the South Pacific, an airfield on the island of Viti Levu in what was then the British colony of Fiji was handed over by the U.S. military to civilian control under the auspices of the New Zealand government. (New Zealand had likewise been a British colony until gaining semi-independent status as... Continue Reading →
November 14, 1930 The first flight of the prototype of the H.P.42 biplane airliners took place in the skies above Radlett Aerodrome, an airfield located in Hertfordshire County in southern England. This four-engine, 40-passenger plane, which was designed and manufactured by the British aviation company Handley Page, would achieve renown for several years as one... Continue Reading →
July 21, 1941 The basic infrastructure for a U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) airfield in southern California was completed as part of a rapid-construction project. This infrastructure included runways, airplane hangars, and a control tower for the recently designated airfield, which was located nine miles (14.5 kilometers) southeast of the city of Taft. This construction... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 