Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 13, 1963 The Murchison Highway on the Australian island state of Tasmania was officially opened. This highway, which is located on Tasmania’s West Coast, covers a total of 91 miles (147 kilometers) between the township of Somerset in the north and the town of Zeehan in the south. The inauguration of the Murchison Highway... Continue Reading →
December 11, 1937 The ferry Gov. Harry W. Nice was launched in Baltimore, Maryland. This ferry, which had been built by the Maryland Drydock Company, was named after the state’s incumbent governor. His wife Edna Viola Amos Nice, as a matter of fact, was the one who christened the vessel. The Gov. Harry W. Nice ferry could... Continue Reading →
December 10, 2009 A cable-stayed swing bridge in Dublin, the capital city of the Republic of Ireland, was formally opened to pedestrians. Emer Costello (born in 1962), the lord mayor of Dublin, officiated at these inaugural festivities. The bridge was first opened to motor vehicle traffic the next morning. This 403.5-foot (123-meter)-long structure crosses the... Continue Reading →
November 5, 1930 In New Jersey, a dedication ceremony was held for a bridge spanning the Hackensack River and connecting Jersey City with the town of Kearny. These Wednesday festivities featured H. Otto Wittpenn, a member of the New Jersey State Highway Commission (a predecessor to the present-day New Jersey Department of Transportation), snipping a... Continue Reading →
October 30, 1906 Daniel Albone, an inventor who made key contributions to various types of transportation, died in the market town and civil parish of Biggleswade in southern England. He was 46. Albone was born in Biggleswade on September 12, 1860. He and his family lived in an area located between the Great North Road... Continue Reading →
October 28, 2017 About two years after it had been opened to the public, the Lyman Bridge between New Hampshire and Vermont was officially dedicated in a Saturday morning ceremony. This beam bridge crosses the Connecticut River and serves as a link between the community of West Lebanon within the city of Lebanon in New... Continue Reading →
October 17, 1988 The Tampico Bridge in eastern Mexico made its formal debut. This vehicular cable-stayed bridge carries Mexican Federal Highway 180 across the Pánuco River. The bridge specifically connects the port city of Tampico in the state of Tamaulipas with Pueblo Viejo Municipality in the state of Veracruz. Measuring 5,062 feet (1,543 meters) in... Continue Reading →
October 16, 1965 The Fitzgerald Bridge, which carries Seaham Road across the Williams River in the Australian state of New South Wales, was officially opened. This prestressed concrete bridge was named after Ray Fitzgerald (1879-1963), who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1941 to 1962. Measuring 862.7 feet (263... Continue Reading →
October 1, 1872 Henry Hooper Blood, who would earn widespread respect in the course of a high-profile career that included serving as chairman of the Utah State Road Commission – a predecessor of the present-day Utah Department of Transportation -- and president of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), was born in the... Continue Reading →
September 25, 1938 The big sports event in Washington, D.C., on that Sunday was without question the President’s Cup Regatta. This multi-day series of waterborne competitions had been introduced in the nation’s capital a dozen years earlier, and the annual event quickly became renowned for the motorboats and hydroplanes participating in a variety of races... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 