Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
January 8, 1867 George Pilkington Mills, who earned acclaim as a formidable competitor in races involving various modes of transportation, was born in Paddington (an area in the City of Westminster within central London). Mills firmly established himself as the preeminent English racing cyclist of his generation. He set numerous racing records on both bicycles... Continue Reading →
December 24, 1801 A steam-powered road vehicle was introduced to the public during a test run that began in southwestern England’s town of Camborne. This full-sized vehicle had been designed and built by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), a prolific inventor and mining engineer from that region. Trevithick nicknamed his creation the Puffing Devil. Six passengers were... Continue Reading →
December 18, 1997 The M65 motorway in northwestern England’s ceremonial county of Lancashire was officially completed with the opening of the final segment of that route. This segment encompasses Junctions 1a to 6 within the area between Whitebirk, a suburb in the vicinity of the borough of Blackburn with Darwen; and this motorway’s linkage with... Continue Reading →
December 5, 1931 The luxury ocean liner SS Manhattan, which had been built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, was launched in Camden, New Jersey. Former First Lady Edith Roosevelt (1861-1948), widow of President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), christened the ship with a bottle containing water taken from various streams throughout the country. This United States Lines... Continue Reading →
December 4, 1933 Operations officially began for trolleybus system in the town of Huddersfield in northern England. The public officials who took part in the brief ceremony marking this transportation milestone included Albert Hirst (1865-1941), who had become mayor of Huddersfield earlier that year and would serve in the position until 1935. The Huddersfield Daily... Continue Reading →
November 25, 1823 The Royal Suspension Chain Pier in Brighton on England’s southeastern coast was opened. This pier was the first major one to be built at that seaside resort. Widely known as the Chain Pier, it was designed by civil engineer (and Royal Navy veteran) Samuel Brown (1776-1852). Brown was a trailblazer when it... Continue Reading →
Shirley Reilly, who is of Iñupiat descent, has compiled a noteworthy record as a world-class wheelchair racer. (The Iñupiat are a group of Alaska Natives; their wide-ranging traditional territory extends from Norton Sound, an inlet of the Bering Sea, to the United States’ border with Canada.) Shirley Reilly was born in Anchorage on May 29,... Continue Reading →
October 14, 1971 In northwestern England’s ceremonial county of Lancashire, a motorway service area (MSA) in the civil parish of Anderton was opened to the public. This MSA is specifically located between the junctions 6 and 8 for the motorway M61. MSAs are facilities in the United Kingdom and Ireland where drivers and their passengers... Continue Reading →
October 3, 1923 A vehicular bridge in southern England’s town of Reading was inaugurated on a Wednesday marked by both rain and strong winds. The next day’s edition of the London-based Daily Telegraph reported on the debut of this structure. This newspaper stated, “With as much civic pomp as the wretched weather would permit the... Continue Reading →
October 2, 1902 Operations began for a lighthouse in England’s ceremonial county of East Sussex. This lighthouse is located in the part of the English Channel that is below the cliffs of the headland known as Beachy Head. It was built to replace the Belle Tout Lighthouse, which had been in service since 1834 and... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 