Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
May 6, 1895 The third elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, and the first of those lines to be electrically operated, made its debut. The first train of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad -- also called the Metropolitan “L” -- left the Robey Street station at six o’clock that morning for the downtown terminal at... Continue Reading →
October 2, 1955 Operations began in Perambur, a neighborhood of India’s city of Madras (now known as Chennai), for a newly formed manufacturer of train coaches. Integral Coach Factory (ICF) was officially inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), who served as the first prime minister of India from 1947 until his death. The origins of... Continue Reading →
December 5, 2020 In the Canadian province of Ontario, an intercity bus terminal in the downtown section of Toronto was officially opened. The Union Station Bus Terminal (USBT), which is operated by the government-owned company Metrolinx, is connected via pedestrian walkways to Union Station (a major railway facility and Canada’s busiest transportation hub). USBT serves... 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 →
Transportation History 