Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 21, 1850 Trailblazing bicycle manufacturer Albert H. Overman was born in Fulton County, Illinois. Early on in life, he developed a strong interest in the mechanics of transportation. Overman said in an 1897 interview with the New York-based World newspaper, “I have all my life been engaged in experimental work connected with man-propelled machinery,... Continue Reading →
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 →
January 24, 2019 In the western section of London, a newly completed pedestrian bridge in the city’s district of Chiswick was officially opened. Chiswick Park Footbridge is located just north of Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve. This 114.8 (35-meter)-long bridge serves as a connection between Chiswick Business Park, a development that encompasses the London-area offices of... 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 →
Neal A. McCaleb, whose longtime career in public service has included key leadership roles in transportation, is a member of the Chickasaw Nation (a federally recognized Native American tribe with its headquarters in the city of Ada, Oklahoma). McCaleb was born in 1935 in Oklahoma City. He graduated from Putnam City High School in Warr... Continue Reading →
November 23, 1942 The first flight of the experimental Vought V-173 aircraft took place. This plane, which became better known as the "Flying Pancake," was designed by pioneering aeronautical engineer Charles H. Zimmerman for Vought Aircraft Companies. The "Flying Pancake" turned out to be one of the most unorthodox types of aircraft ever created. This plane was... Continue Reading →
November 2, 1863 Civil engineer Theodore Judah, whose vision and technical expertise helped bring about one of the most significant railroad accomplishments in American history, died of yellow fever at the age of 37 in New York City. He most likely contracted the viral disease in Panama while he and his wife Anne were en... Continue Reading →
October 19, 1865 The foundation stone was laid for a bridge to be built across the river Vitava in Prague, capital city of the present-day Czech Republic. (When construction began on that bridge, Prague was the capital of Lands of the Bohemian Crown; two years later, this territory became part of the region of the... Continue Reading →
Sandra Cauffman, who has charted a trailblazing career as an engineer at NASA, was born in the central region of Costa Rica in 1962. She and her brother grew in a single-parent home after their mother Maria Jerónima Rojas made the lifesaving decision to leave her abusive husband. Even with their mother holding down two... Continue Reading →
October 4, 2009 The Kurilpa Bridge was inaugurated in the city of Brisbane, the capital of northeastern Australia’s state of Queensland. This multiple-mast, cable-stayed pedestrian and bicycle bridge crosses the Brisbane River and serves as a link between Kurilpa Point in Brisbane’s inner southern suburb of South Brisbane and Tank Street in the city’s central... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 