Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 12, 2010 Wilford Suspension Bridge, located in the city and unitary authority area of Nottingham in England’s region of East Midlands, was formally reopened at 12:30 p.m. to the public after an extensive restoration. This structure crosses the River Trent and actually serves as a combined suspension bridge and aqueduct. Wilford Suspension Bridge connects... Continue Reading →
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, along with being a transportation-oriented protest against racial segregation practices in Alabama’s capital city, was a pivotal chapter in the larger civil rights movement in the United States. At the time of this boycott during the mid-1950s, longstanding Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation throughout the American South were very much... Continue Reading →
February 5, 1906 Road racing cyclist Mariano Cañardo was born in the town and municipality of Olite in north-central Spain’s autonomous community and province of Navarre. After becoming an orphan at the age of 14, he moved with his sister to the city of Barcelona in northeastern Spain’s autonomous community and province of Catalonia. It... Continue Reading →
January 19, 1964 Professional cyclist Firmin Lambot died in the municipality of Borgerhout in northern Belgium at the age of 77. (Borgerhout became a district of the city of Antwerp in 1983.) Lambot had been born on March 14, 1886, in the municipality of Florennes in southwestern Belgium. He began working as a saddler, someone... Continue Reading →
December 10, 1910 The Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon, was officially opened to traffic. This bridge had been designed by Waddell & Harrington and, as part of the inaugural festivities, C.K. Allen from that engineering firm formally recommended acceptance of the new structure to the city. Portland Mayor Joseph Simon responded by declaring, “Let it open!” This... Continue Reading →
November 16, 2019 In the San Francisco Bay Area, a dedication ceremony – complete with a ribbon-cutting -- was held less than two weeks before Thanksgiving for a bicycle and pedestrian path that had recently been added to the San Rafael-Richmond Bridge (officially named the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge in honor of a longtime... Continue Reading →
Professional cyclist Cole House was born on February 5, 1988, and grew up on the Oneida Indian Reservation in Wisconsin. House is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Wolf Clan. His mother is a full-blooded Oneida and his father is of Oneida, Ojibwa, and Belgian descent. Since his birth, Cole House’s Native American... Continue Reading →
October 19, 2006 The Celtic Gateway Bridge in Wales was opened for use. This stainless steel pedestrian and cycle bridge is located in Holyhead, the largest town and community within the Isle of Anglesey (a county off the northwestern coast of Wales). The Celtic Gateway Bridge was officially inaugurated by Andrew Davies (born in 1952),... Continue Reading →
October 3, 1906 In southwestern England, a road-rail swing bridge crossing the River Avon in Bristol -- a city, ceremonial county, and unitary authority -- first went into service. The Ashton Avenue Bridge was built as a key part of the Bristol Harbour Railway, a longtime transportation link for Bristol’s docks and wharves. Alfred John... Continue Reading →
September 8, 1966 A dedication ceremony was held for a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between England and Wales. The Severn Bridge, which connects the unitary authority area (local government seat) of South Gloucestershire in England with the County of Monmouthsire in Wales, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Measuring about a mile... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 