Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
January 11, 1913 In France, a transportation milestone in Paris took place when the last of the city’s horse-drawn omnibuses (horse-buses) made its final run. This means of transit first became a major part of daily life in France’s capital in 1828, when horse-buses began running on a regular basis between the right bank of... Continue Reading →
January 10, 1987 A major transportation milestone for India was achieved when the nation’s first crew to sail around the world completed their ambitious journey, returning to Bombay (now known as Mumbai) 470 days after leaving from there. All 10 of the crew members were from the Indian Army Corps of Engineers. The vessel they... Continue Reading →
January 9, 1996 At the age of 71, aviation pioneer Berta Zerón de García – with more than 10,000 flight hours to her credit – took to the skies as a pilot for the last time. The airplane that she flew for her final trip was a Cessna 206. Born in the city of Pachuca in... Continue Reading →
January 8, 2004 Queen Elizabeth II christened the transatlantic ocean liner RMS Queen Mary 2 in Southampton, England. Queen Mary 2 was the first major ocean liner built since Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1969, and she succeeded that earlier vessel as the Cunard Line’s flagship. “A steel-hulled behemoth, the Queen Mary 2 is the largest... Continue Reading →
January 7, 1907 Three days after a streetcar franchise in Enid, Oklahoma, had been awarded to C.H. Bosler, the Enid City Railway Company was established to build and run that public transportation network. The Enid City Council awarded the franchise with conditions such as streetcar speed limits of 10 miles (16.1 kilometers) per hour in the... Continue Reading →
January 4, 2011 The final Mercury vehicle was produced at the Ford Motor Company’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant in the Canadian township of Southwold. This last-of-a-kind vehicle was a white Mercury Grand Marquis automobile, and it rolled off the assembly line at 7:46 a.m. Crain News Service reported a couple of days later that “Mercury’s... Continue Reading →
January 3, 1922 The Aero Letňany A.10, which was the first commercial aircraft to be built in Czechoslovakia, made its inaugural flight. (Czechoslovakia came into existence in 1918 after breaking free from the Austro-Hungarian Empire; it remained a sovereign state until peacefully dissolving into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.) The Aero Letňany A.10 – also... Continue Reading →
January 2, 1842 In Philadelphia, the first major wire-cable suspension bridge in the United States was opened. The 358-foot (109-meter)-long bridge carried traffic over the Schuylkill River below Fairmount Dam. This bridge was designed and built by civil engineer Charles Ellet Jr. It replaced a bridge famously known as “The Colossus.” The earlier structure, which had... Continue Reading →
December 26, 1960 Airplane designer and builder Giuseppe Mario Bellanca died in New York City at the age of 74. Bellanca had been born on the island of Sicily in southern Italy in 1886. As a young man, he became enthralled with the possibilities of human flight. This enthusiasm led him in 1909 to help create... Continue Reading →
December 21, 1968 Apollo 8, the second human spaceflight mission of the Apollo program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:51 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The members of this mission’s crew were U.S. Air Force (USAF) Colonel Frank Borman, U.S. Navy... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 