Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 21, 1991 An extensive tourist route in Denmark was formally opened by Margrethe II, who reigned as the country’s queen from 1972 until her abdication in 2024. The route that she helped dedicate was named after her favorite flower, a type of daisy known as the Marguerite flower. (Margrethe’s nickname among her family and... Continue Reading →
April 20, 1954 The first of what has become a longtime series of international automobile shows was opened in the plaza at Hibiya Park in Tokyo. Originally called the All-Japan Motor Show, the event was subsequently renamed the Tokyo Motor Show. The inaugural edition of these shows took place a little less than nine years... Continue Reading →
April 9, 1906 In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), a dedication ceremony was held for the McFarlane Bridge in the town of Maclean. The bridge, which was designed by civil engineer Ernest de Burgh (1863-1929), carries Lawerence Road across the south arm of the Clarence River. This structure provides a key transportation... Continue Reading →
April 6, 1956 An arch bridge in what was then known as the Federation of Malaya was officially opened. At the time, this country in Southeast Asia was a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom. The steadily gathering momentum for a fully independent Federation of Malaya was reflected in the name of the new bridge.... Continue Reading →
April 2, 1966 In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), a dedication ceremony was held for a prestressed concrete box girder bridge carrying Warringah Road (now part of the route known as A38) across Middle Harbour. This six-lane, high-level structure is called the Roseville Bridge. Measuring 1,237 feet (377 meters) in length, it... Continue Reading →
March 30, 2003 An arch bridge in northern Portugal’s Porto metropolitan area was inaugurated. This 1,217-foot (371-meter)-long bridge spans the river Douro and carries both vehicular and pedestrian traffic between the city of Porto and the city and municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia. The bridge was named after Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), the... Continue Reading →
March 25, 1940 An open house for the public was held for a recently completed Greyhound bus terminal at 1100 New York Avenue in northwest Washington, D.C. This open house, which was formally classified as a public preview, took place between 4:00 and 9:00 p.m. on the day before the actual start of bus operations... Continue Reading →
March 20, 1956 Only four days after his 76th birthday, inventor and engineer William Bushnell Stout died of a heart attack at his home in Phoenix, Arizona. Stout, who made significant innovations in the aviation and automotive fields, had been born in 1880 in Quincy, Illinois. After graduating from the Mechanic Arts High School in... Continue Reading →
March 19, 1964 The Great St Bernard Tunnel joining Switzerland and Italy was officially opened to vehicular traffic. This tunnel became the first one running through the formidable Alps for automobiles, and it is a major link between the municipality of Martigny in southwestern Switzerland and the comune of Aosta in northwestern Italy. The tunnel... Continue Reading →
Margaret A. Wilcox, who was born in Chicago in 1838, became a prolific mechanical engineer and inventor at a time when very few women -- due to prevailing social conventions -- played any meaningful role at all in these professions. She developed a strong interest in mechanical engineering early in life and would use her... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 