Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 6, 1885 Queen Victoria of England gave her royal assent to a bill passed by both houses of parliament authorizing the creation of a canal to link the city of Manchester to the Irish Sea. The Queen's formal approval was the final legislative hurdle that had to be overcome to make the Manchester Ship Canal... Continue Reading →
June 26, 1967 Civil engineer John G. Claybourn, who made significant contributions to river and harbor improvement projects in a number of countries, died Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the age of 81. He had been born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, in 1886. His uncle Ephraim S. Claybourn was an engineer who played a prominent role... Continue Reading →
Albert Gallatin, secretary of the Treasury under President Thomas Jefferson, submitted to the U.S. Senate a far-reaching report on the young nation’s critical transportation needs. Over a year earlier, the Senate passed a resolution calling upon the U.S. Treasury Department to prepare and submit “a plan for the application of such means are within the... Continue Reading →
Pioneering canal engineer Engebret Soot was born in the municipality of Aurskog (now part of Aurskog-Høland) in southeastern Norway. At the time of Soot’s birth, the Kingdom of Norway was united with the Kingdom of Denmark as a state known as Denmark-Norway; this integrated state remained in existence until 1814, when Norway established itself as... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 