Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 23, 1980 The first formal intercity air/ground/rail transportation connection in the United States -- and the country’s first rail station built on airport-owned property -- was officially dedicated about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the terminal of Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Construction on that rail station serving the airport (now known as Baltimore Washington International... Continue Reading →
October 10, 1904 In another clear sign that Henry Ford’s pioneering automotive enterprise was expanding even further, the production of his cars in Canada began in the town of Walkerville in the southwestern region of the province of Ontario. This made Canada the first country outside the United States where Fords were built. (In 1935, Walkerville... Continue Reading →
September 6, 1936 In Oregon, the Yaquina Bay Bridge -- nearly a month before its official dedication ceremony -- was opened to traffic on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend starting at 8:00 a.m. This 3,260-foot (990-meter)-long arch bridge carries U.S. Highway 1 (formally classified as the Oregon Coast Highway) over a section of Yaquina Bay... Continue Reading →
August 2, 1889 Charles Terres Weymann, who earned international fame for his achievements involving two modes of transportation, was born in Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince. He was the son of a Haitian mother and American father. Just a few years after the Wright Brothers’ pioneering flight at Kitty Hawk, Weymann learned how to operate... Continue Reading →
June 23, 1916 Modine Manufacturing Company, which would become an international force in heating-and-cooling technology for motor vehicles, was incorporated. This company started out as a business run by engineer Arthur B. Modine in a one-room office adjacent to a small workshop in Racine, Wisconsin. Modine Manufacturing Company made its debut at a time when... Continue Reading →
June 6, 1933 The first open air drive-in movie theater opened on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey. Richard M. Hollingshead (1899-1975), finding a new way to use the “horseless carriage,” worked out the details for that theater by experimenting with the setup in his own driveway. One major challenge involved the automobiles that would... Continue Reading →
May 26, 1927 Automotive pioneer Henry Ford sent a telegram that went out under the name of his son Edsel to all 10,000 of the Ford automobile dealers. This telegram announced that, after 19 years of manufacturing the influential and popular Model T, the company would replace that model with an “entirely new Ford car.” Along... Continue Reading →
May 16, 1961 Automotive manufacturer Richard J. Corbitt died in Henderson, North Carolina, at the age of 88. Corbitt had first established residence in that community in 1894, and he entered the transportation business five years later with the launch of the Corbitt Buggy Company. For several years, this company built horse-drawn buggies for hauling agricultural... Continue Reading →
April 10, 1969 Harley J. Earl, a pioneer of modern automobile design, died in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 75. He started out life in Hollywood, California. His father’s own transportation career involved building horse-drawn vehicles in the late 19th century and then focusing on custom bodies and accessories for automobiles. Harley eventually worked... Continue Reading →
March 21, 1850 Trailblazing bicycle manufacturer Albert H. Overman was born in Fulton County, Illinois. Early on in life, he developed a strong interest in the mechanics of transportation. Overman said in an 1897 interview with the New York-based World newspaper, “I have all my life been engaged in experimental work connected with man-propelled machinery,... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 