Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 5, 1927 Under the command of Brazilian aviator João Ribeiro de Barros, the Savoia-Marchetti S.55 hydroplane known as Jahú first touched down on the South American mainland as part of its long-distance flight across much of the South Atlantic. This aircraft landed at the city of Natal in northeastern Brazil 38 days after departing... Continue Reading →
May 20, 1946 Jacob Ellehammer, a longtime watchmaker who also used his mechanical talents to make seminal contributions to transportation, died in Denmark’s capital city of Copenhagen. He was 74. Ellehammer was born in the Danish village of Bakkebølle on June 14, 1871. After completing his apprenticeship as a watchmaker, he moved to Copenhagen and... Continue Reading →
May 16, 1929 The first-ever “Best Picture” Oscar went to a movie about planes. Wings, which was also the only silent movie to win that award, told the story of two men who are in love with the same woman and end up becoming fighter pilots in World War I. The actors who played these men... Continue Reading →
May 9, 1932 Albert Francis Hegenberger (1895-1983), an aviation pioneer and U.S. Army Air Corps captain, became the world’s first person to make a “blind” instrument-only flight from takeoff to landing without any co-pilot on board with him. This flight took place in the skies above Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Hegenberger had developed that blind... Continue Reading →
On April 19, 2021, the autonomous NASA helicopter Ingenuity (nicknamed Ginny) lifted off the surface of Mars for what turned out to be a flight of 39.1 seconds. While decidedly brief, this ascent was also historic because it made Ingenuity the first aircraft to carry out a powered, controlled extra-terrestrial flight. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory... Continue Reading →
May 6, 1993 An automated people mover was officially opened to the public at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. In an article appearing in that day’s edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, reporter Scott Fornek described this new transit system for one of the biggest and busiest airports in the United States. “Picture yourself riding in something... 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 →
During his long career as an architect, Gyo Obata achieved international acclaim for the wide range of major buildings that he designed. He was born to Japanese immigrants on February 28, 1923, in San Francisco. His mother Haruko Obata was a well-established floral designer and his father Chiura Obata became a widely known artist. ... Continue Reading →
April 26, 1977 Samantha Cristoforetti, a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, was born in the major Italian city of Milan. She grew up in Malé, a commune (municipality) that is likewise located in the northern region of Italy. Cristoforetti traveled to the United States at the age of 18 as an exchange student in the... Continue Reading →
April 23, 1988 The ancient mythical flight of the craftsman Daedalus, who reportedly took to the skies while flapping wings made of feathers and wax, was recreated by Kanellos Kanellopoulos. The 30-year-old Greek cycling champion accomplished this with a pink-and-silver pedal-plane that had been built by the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department of the Massachusetts Institute of... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 