Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 9, 2003 In the eastern region of the Republic of Ireland, a bridge in the Boyne Valley was formally opened to motor vehicle traffic. This bridge, spanning the River Boyne, is located about two miles (3.2 kilometers) west of Drogheda (a town straddling the boundary between Counties Meath and Louth of the province of... Continue Reading →
Swati Mohan is an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a research and development center that is based in Pasadena, California, and managed by the California Institute of Technology. Since 2013, she has been significantly involved in the Mars 2020 mission. A large part of this mission has entailed dispatching both the rover... Continue Reading →
April 24, 2010 A unique type of pedestrian bridge was officially dedicated in southern Singapore. The Double Helix Bridge (now called just the Helix Bridge), which spans Marina Bay, serves as a major link between Marina South peninsula and -- within Singapore’s economic center known as Downtown Core -- Marina Centre. The Helix Bridge was... Continue Reading →
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 →
Transportation History 