Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 9, 1943 With the United States deeply embroiled in World War II at the time, the U.S. Navy purchased the steamship Zizania for military use on the home front. This acquisition marked only the latest of several major milestones for this longtime and multi-faceted vessel. The origins of Zizania, which owed her name to... Continue Reading →
May 10, 1865 A foundation stone was laid for the third and current version of St Bees Lighthouse in northwestern England. This ceremony marked the start of construction on this structure on the headland known as St Bees Head, which overlooks the Irish Sea. Those on hand for the ceremony included Henry Norris, an engineer... Continue Reading →
April 25, 1885 Marcus Aurelius Hanna, the head keeper at Cape Elizabeth Light (also known as Two Lights) at the mouth of Casco Bay on Maine’s southern coast, received the prestigious Gold Lifesaving Medal. Daniel Manning, who was U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1885 to 1887, awarded this medal to Hanna for his heroic... Continue Reading →
March 15, 1902 In the English market town and civil parish of Beverley, a vessel constructed there by the shipbuilding company Cook,Welton & Gemmell was launched. This 149-foot (45-meter)-long vessel was named King Edward, the country’s reigning monarch at the time, and her original owner was James Holliday. In 1911, this vessel ended up in... Continue Reading →
February 20, 1927 Just a little over two months after first being placed into service on a trial basis, the Leça Lighthouse on northwestern Portugal’s Atlantic coast was officially inaugurated. This lighthouse was built in the then-civil parish of Leça da Palmeira (now part of the civil parish of Matosinhos e Leça da Palmeira) in... Continue Reading →
September 18, 1896 Edward Orpen Moriarty, a civil engineer who had undertaken a wide range of public works projects across the globe, died in the community of Southsea within the city and unitary authority of Portsmouth in southeastern England. He was 71. Moriarty was born on October 11, 1824, in County Kerry in southwestern Ireland.... Continue Reading →
June 21, 1815 Thomas Smith, an engineer who made notable contributions to the illumination of street lights as well as far-flung lighthouses, died at his home at 2 Baxter’s Place in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. He was 62. Smith was born on December 6, 1752, in Broughty Ferry, a suburb of the Scottish city... Continue Reading →
Elizabeth Whitney Williams was one of the longest-serving lighthouse keepers in American history. In 1904, the Detroit Free Press underscored both the challenges and significance of Williams’ lifesaving role on behalf of maritime transportation. This article stated, “For more than three decades she has been in charge of one of Uncle Sam’s lighthouses on the... Continue Reading →
December 29, 1933 With New Year’s Eve fast approaching, it was definitely a case of “out with the old, in with the new” on the southwest tip of the Hawaiian island of Oahu due to the replacement of one lighthouse with another there. (At the time, Hawaii was a U.S. territory; it became the 50th... Continue Reading →
September 16, 1956 A newly built lighthouse first went into service in the Tuscany region of central Italy. This lighthouse is located at the south entrance of the port of the city of Livorno, which is on the coast of the Ligurian Sea (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea). The Port of Livorno is the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 