Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 12, 1938 A truss bridge built in the Montopolis neighborhood of Austin, Texas, in Travis County was dedicated during a Saturday ceremony. The next day’s edition of the Austin American reported, “The huge span of smooth concrete and shiny steel was constructed to replace [an] old iron bridge washed out by the flood of... Continue Reading →
February 3, 2008 Bicycle mechanic and expert Sheldon Brown died in the Boston-area city of Newton, Massachusetts, at the age of 63. Brown was the parts manager, technical consultant, and webmaster for a bicycle shop near where he lived, but his formidable expertise and interest in both vintage and contemporary bicycles earned him acclaim that went... Continue Reading →
January 20, 1995 A cable-stayed road bridge in northwestern France’s Normandy region first went into service. The Pont de Normandie (Normandy Bridge) spans the river Seine and connects the commune of Honfleur with the major port city of Le Havre. This bridge has the distinction of being the last bridge to cross the Seine before... Continue Reading →
January 13, 1902 John Keen, an internationally renowned English cyclist, died of tuberculosis at the age of 52 in the London-area community of Finchley. “A CHAMPION’S DEMISE,” announced a headline in the next day’s edition of the London-based Echo newspaper. Keen, who started out life in 1849 in the English village of Broadway, was a carpenter... Continue Reading →
January 8, 1867 George Pilkington Mills, who earned acclaim as a formidable competitor in races involving various modes of transportation, was born in Paddington (an area in the City of Westminster within central London). Mills firmly established himself as the preeminent English racing cyclist of his generation. He set numerous racing records on both bicycles... Continue Reading →
December 29, 1959 The MV Coho, a ferry operated by the Black Ball Line between Victoria in the Canadian province of British Columbia and Port Angeles in Washington State, first went into regular service. This 341.5-foot (104.1-meter)-long ferry was designed by the Seattle-based firm Philip F. Spaulding & Associates and built by Puget Sound Bridge... Continue Reading →
December 11, 1976 On a Saturday morning, a ferry terminal in the city of Larkspur (located north of San Francisco) was opened with considerable fanfare. Larkspur Landing, which is also called Larkspur Ferry Terminal, provides commuter ferry services to downtown San Francisco via the North Bay. This terminal is operated by the Golden Gate Bridge,... Continue Reading →
December 3, 1995 In Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW), a cable-stayed bridge in Sydney was formally opened to traffic. This bridge, crossing Johnstons Bay on the western edge of the city’s central business district, is a major link between the suburb of Pyrmont and the port facility of Glebe Island within the suburb... Continue Reading →
November 26, 1924 The Bear Mountain Bridge in southeastern New York was officially dedicated. This suspension bridge crosses the section of the Hudson River between Bear Mountain Park in Orange County and the town of Cortlandt in Westchester County. At the time of its debut, this structure was the world’s longest suspension bridge -- a... Continue Reading →
November 14, 1938 After two days of being made available exclusively for pedestrians to cross, the newly completed Lions Gate Bridge in the Canadian province of British Columbia was first opened to vehicular traffic. This suspension bridge traverses the First Narrows of Burrard Inlet and links the city of Vancouver with the North Shore municipalities... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 