Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 5, 1878 Albert Champion, who made notable contributions to various modes of transportation, was born in Paris. By the end of the 19th century, he had established himself as a formidable track bicycle racer in his native France. In 1899, Champion surprised nearly everyone by beating out quite a few seasoned cyclists to win... Continue Reading →
April 3, 2016 A bus rapid transit (BRT) system in England’s ceremonial county of Greater Manchester was inaugurated. A section of this system has the distinction of being the first guided busway – a dedicated, buses-only route – to operate in northwestern England. There is a multi-user path alongside this guided section for bicyclists, pedestrians,... Continue Reading →
April 1, 1928 The first four trolleybuses to serve the English town and borough of Hastings began operations. These vehicles were each decorated with flags and bunting for the occasion and they were introduced as part of the plan to ultimately replace the entire aging fleet of trams in Hastings with trolleybuses. Those trams were... Continue Reading →
March 25, 2007 A two-tunnel tollway in Sydney, Australia’s most populous city and the capital of the state of New South Wales (NSW), was opened two months ahead of schedule. This structure, collectively called the Lane Cove Tunnel, serves as a link between the section of M2 Hills Motorway that is in the suburb of... Continue Reading →
February 14, 1941 A formal acknowledgement -- albeit one that had to be clarified -- was accorded the person who drove the one-millionth motor vehicle through New York City’s Queens-Midtown Tunnel about three months after the debut of that structure. The office of William H. Friedman, commissioner of the New York City Tunnel Authority (now part... Continue Reading →
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, along with being a transportation-oriented protest against racial segregation practices in Alabama’s capital city, was a pivotal chapter in the larger civil rights movement in the United States. At the time of this boycott during the mid-1950s, longstanding Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation throughout the American South were very much... Continue Reading →
January 26, 2010 In the Republic of Indonesia, the Kanci-Pejagan Toll Road on the island of Java was officially opened. Those participating in the dedication ceremony for the new road included Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born in 1949), who was president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. This 22-mile (36-kilometer)-long toll road, which is located in... Continue Reading →
January 22, 1960 A steel girder bridge in Pennsylvania’s capital city of Harrisburg was officially opened. The multi-lane John Harris Bridge carries Interstate 83 and that region’s Capital Beltway across the Susquehanna River. This bridge was specifically named after John Harris Sr. (1673-1748), a prominent trader and ferry operator in that area. Harrisburg was likewise... Continue Reading →
January 16, 1932 The Arlington Memorial Bridge, crossing the Potomac River and linking Virginia with Washington, D.C., was opened. A caravan of 12 automobiles became the first vehicles to travel over this stone, steel, and neoclassical masonry arch bridge. The first of these automobiles transported President Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover (1874-1944). While... Continue Reading →
January 10, 1975 In West Germany (now part of the Federal Republic of Germany), a vehicular tunnel crossing under the Elbe River in the city of Hamburg was officially opened. Construction on the New Elbe Tunnel -- also called Elbtunnel -- had begun in 1968. Helmut Schmidt (1918-2015), who served as chancellor of West Germany... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 