Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 13, 1883 Civil engineer Clifford Milburn Holland was born in the town of Somerset, Massachusetts. His career would encompass construction on several tunnels in and around New York City. His crowning achievement when it came to those tunnels involved the one that now bears his name: the Holland Tunnel, which was built under the Hudson... Continue Reading →
December 27, 1893 A pivotal test ride took place for a newly completed truss railroad bridge in eastern-central Missouri. This four-span truss bridge, crossing the Missouri River at Bellefontaine Bluffs and serving as a link between Charles County and St. Louis County in the Show-Me State, had been built for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy... Continue Reading →
October 26, 1972 Uffa Fox, a renowned boat designer and sailing expert, died in London at the age of 74. He had been born on January 15, 1898, on England’s Isle of Wight. Fox is widely credited with popularizing modern-day dinghy sailing and making several major contributions to that small-boat activity. One of these contributions was Fox’s... Continue Reading →
August 25, 1864 Milton Reeves, who became a major trailblazer for the automobile industry, was born on a farm in east-central Indiana. When he was only a teenager working at a saw mill in Columbus, Indiana, Reeves demonstrated the formidable creativity and mechanical expertise that would define his entire life. After seeing how other workers... Continue Reading →
August 12, 1908 In Michigan, a new era in motorboats began when marine designer John L. Hacker purchased the vessel manufacturer Detroit Launch & Power Company and renamed it the Hacker Boat Company. The 31-year-old Hacker, bringing into play his expert craftsmanship and a wealth of ideas for design improvements, would revolutionize the use of... Continue Reading →
August 4, 1999 In the Netherlands, a vessel built to serve as a training ship for the Brazilian Navy was christened and launched. Cisne Branco, which means “White Swan” in Brazil’s official language of Portuguese, is a full-rigged tall ship (a large sailing vessel) that was constructed by the Dutch company Damen Shipyards Group. This... Continue Reading →
July 22, 1908 The automobile coachbuilder Fisher Body Company was established in Detroit. This company’s ancestry can be traced to Lawrence Fisher, who -- along with his brother Andrew and brother-in-law Joseph Weisenberger -- set up Fisher Brothers Carriage Company in Norwalk, Ohio, in 1880 to produce horse-drawn vehicles. All seven of Lawrence Fisher’s sons spent... Continue Reading →
January 27, 1861 Ralph Modjeski, a civil engineer who achieved acclaim for his wide range of bridge design and construction projects, was born in the town of Bochnia in the Austrian Empire (in what is now Poland). Modjeski immigrated to the United States in 1878. He became an American citizen five years later. Modjeski’s first major... Continue Reading →
January 19, 1947 The Cincinnatian, a luxury passenger train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), made its official debut with regular runs between Baltimore and Cincinnati. The Cincinnatian was the first luxury train introduced during the post-World War II years by the nation’s oldest railroad chartered specifically for public use. The train was... Continue Reading →
January 11, 1815 David Stevenson, who would achieve widespread renown as a civil engineer and lighthouse designer, was born in Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh. By the time of his birth, his father Robert Stevenson (1772-1850) had begun to establish himself as a notable designer of lighthouses within Scotland. (This country officially became part of... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 