Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 23, 1964 The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, which spans the Potomac River and serves as a highway link between Washington, D.C., and Virginia, was officially dedicated. Plans for a new bridge across this section of the Potomac River first took significant shape during the early 1950s. Finally, in 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into... Continue Reading →
June 22, 1909 Talk about being multimodal! The firm of Wyckoff, Church & Partridge (WCP), automobile dealers based in New York City, formally became the first corporate entity in the United States to sell planes. As far as automobiles were concerned, WCP had already established itself by that time as an early pioneer in showrooms... Continue Reading →
June 9, 1853 A railway station in the city of Aalst in northwestern Belgium was opened. This facility was built as one of the stations for the Belgian State Railways, which had been established in 1834 as the country’s first state-owned railway system. Aalst railway station was designed by architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (1811-1880). He also... 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 →
Blanche Stuart Scott, who made notable contributions involving two modes of transportation, was born in Rochester, New York, in1885. She developed a strong interest in automobiles early on in life. In 1910, Scott became only the second woman -- after Alice Huyler Ramsey -- to drive one of those vehicles from one coast to another within... Continue Reading →
March 3, 1910 Transportation pioneer Dorothy Levitt was one of the featured speakers at a mid-afternoon meeting of the English Women’s Aerial League at the renowned Criterion Restaurant in London, England. The league had been established the previous year and was focused on promoting both advances in aircraft technology and the involvement of women in... Continue Reading →
February 24, 1909 In Detroit, eight businessmen met to establish a company under Michigan state law that would produce automobiles selling for less than $1,000. This meeting marked the start of the Hudson Motor Car Company. The company was named after Joseph L. Hudson, who was a Detroit department store entrepreneur and one of those eight businessmen. ... Continue Reading →
Charles Richard “Rich” Patterson started out life as an enslaved person but ultimately gained his freedom. He went on to achieve prominence as both a carriage manufacturer and civil rights champion. Patterson was born into slavery on a plantation in Virginia in 1833. While there are conflicting accounts of how exactly Patterson became free, census... Continue Reading →
January 6, 1925 The National Automobile Chamber of Commerce held its silver jubilee dinner at New York City’s Commodore Hotel (the present-day Grand Hyatt Central New York). This dinner, which took place in conjunction with the New York Automobile Show, also served as an occasion to pay tribute to 11 automotive pioneers and present each with... Continue Reading →
December 9, 1903 The American Automobile and Power Company was incorporated in the city of Sanford in southern Maine. The eight officers selected at the time for that company included Boston resident Henry D. Long, who became the president; and Sanford native Ernest M. Goodall, who was appointed to serve as the treasurer. The automobile produced... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 