Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
May 21, 1901 In response to the steady increase of automobiles on its roads, the state of Connecticut enacted a pioneering speed limits law. This law required that automobiles travel no faster than 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) per hour within cities and 15 miles (24.1 kilometers) per hour on roads elsewhere. The law also required automobile drivers... Continue Reading →
February 14, 1941 A formal acknowledgement -- albeit one that had to be clarified -- was accorded the person who drove the one-millionth motor vehicle through New York City’s Queens-Midtown Tunnel about three months after the debut of that structure. The office of William H. Friedman, commissioner of the New York City Tunnel Authority (now part... Continue Reading →
August 23, 1904 Harry D. Weed of Canastota, New York, was issued U.S. Patent Number 768,495 for his “Grip-Tread for Pneumatic Tires,” an innovation designed to help make driving safer in inclement winter weather or similarly adverse muddy road conditions. According to one of his great-grandsons, Weed came up with the idea for creating tire chains... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 