Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
May 4, 1957 Construction began on the rapid transit system Metropolitana di Milano (Milan Metro) in Italy’s second most populous city. Public transportation in Milan dates back to 1840, when the Milan-Monza Railway made its debut. As early as 1914, Milan’s public officials discussed creating an underground transit network similar to those in other major... Continue Reading →
April 10, 1899 The Napoleone Pimpinelli Company was awarded a contract to build an electric tram (streetcar) line in the city of Perugia in central Italy. The company subsequently carried out that construction project under the supervision of the German electrical engineering company Siemens & Halske AG. The project was part of a larger modernization... Continue Reading →
March 24, 1907 After a few trial runs, one of Italy’s earliest trolleybus systems was officially inaugurated in the vicinity of Siena in the central region of the country. These trolleybuses were the first means of public transportation for that city and its surrounding area that did not rely on horses for operation. The source... Continue Reading →
January 27, 1900 The automobile manufacturer Società Milanese Automobili Isotta, Fraschini & C (Isotta-Fraschini) was officially established in Milan, Italy. The company’s formal name was based in part on the surnames of its founders, Cesare Isotta and the brothers Oreste, Vincenzo and Antonio Fraschini. For the first few years of its existence, Isotta-Fraschini focused on assembling... Continue Reading →
January 3, 1905 Automobile designer Dante Giacosa was born in Rome, Italy. His work covered a wide range of automobiles, from minicars to sports cars. Giacosa was especially instrumental in spearheading the design of small automobiles during his many years at the Fiat company. Giacosa studied engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin. He joined Fiat... Continue Reading →
Tazio Nuvolari, whose world-renowned racing career encompassed both motorcycles and cars, was born in the commune of Castel d’Ario in northern Italy. He eventually became a longtime resident of the nearby city of Mantua. Nuvolari’s racing career first took shape in 1920 when he began racing motorcycles. His achievements at this point in his career... Continue Reading →
Henri Pigozzi, who served as the general commercial representative for the Italian automobile producer Fiat S.p.A. in France, founded the company Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile (Simca)-Fiat at the one-time Donnet manufacturing factory in the French commune of Suresnes (a western suburb of Paris). Pigozzi launched Simca-Fiat as a distributor for Fiat automobiles... Continue Reading →
Carlo Abarth, whose accomplishments spanned various modes of surface transportation, died in Vienna, Austria, just a few weeks before his 71st birthday. He had been born Karl Albert Abarth in 1908 in Vienna, which at that time was the main capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When Abarth later became a naturalized Italian citizen, his first... Continue Reading →
The initial segment of a railway in present-day Italy was opened between the cities of Turin and Novara. At the time, this region was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. This railway was built by renowned English civil engineering contractor Thomas Brassey, who carried out the project on behalf of the Società Vittorio Emanuele (Victor... Continue Reading →
Cavour, an aircraft carrier and the flagship of the Italian Navy, was launched from the Riva Trigoso shipyards in the town of Sestri Levante in northwestern Italy. The ship was named after Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who was a 19th-century Italian statesman and is generally known as Count Cavour. His major accomplishments included helping... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 