Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 16, 2012 Only four days after what would be his last public appearance, Danish shipping magnate Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller died in Copenhagen at the age of 98. He had been a longtime leader at A.P Møller – Mærsk Group (known simply as Maersk), the shipping and logistics company that his father Arnold Peter... Continue Reading →
April 15, 1909 The Unione Sportiva Italiana (USI), which is now one of the oldest cycling clubs in existence in the United States, was formally incorporated in the state of New York. The English translation for the club’s name is “Italian Sporting Union,” and it is generally acknowledged that the founders of this group in New... Continue Reading →
March 18, 1897 A pilot boat named New York was launched at the shipyards of the transportation manufacturing firm Harlan & Hollingsworth Company in Wilmington, Delaware. This type of vessel operates in the vicinity of a port and is used to transport maritime pilots to ships in the area. While on board a ship, the... Continue Reading →
March 17, 1915 Jacob Ackerman, who earned legendary status for his longtime roles as a captain of vessels and the keeper of a lighthouse on the Hudson River, died in the village of Tarrytown in New York’s Westchester County. He was 88 years old. The New York Times attributed his death to paralysis. Ackerman was... Continue Reading →
While she ultimately became a world-renowned etiquette maven, Emily Post (1872-1960) was also a female automotive pioneer who firmly established herself as a formidable travel journalist. The zenith of this part of the Baltimore-born Post’s writing career was arguably her participation in an automobile journey from New York City to San Francisco in 1915. This... Continue Reading →
February 25, 1908 The first tube of the McAdoo rapid transit tunnel system allowing electric trolleys to travel between Hoboken, New Jersey, and Manhattan was formally opened amid great fanfare. This structure made history as the first transportation tunnel beneath a major river. “It is the first tunnel for passenger traffic under the Hudson River and... Continue Reading →
November 26, 1924 The Bear Mountain Bridge in southeastern New York was officially dedicated. This suspension bridge crosses the section of the Hudson River between Bear Mountain Park in Orange County and the town of Cortlandt in Westchester County. At the time of its debut, this structure was the world’s longest suspension bridge -- a... Continue Reading →
November 18, 1876 The entire segment of Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York, was opened to the public about two years after construction on that route had begun. (Brooklyn was still an independent incorporated city at the time and would not become a borough of New York City until 1898.) The new parkway, spanning 5.5... Continue Reading →
November 21, 1964 In New York City, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was officially opened to traffic in a dedication ceremony attended by approximately 5,000 people. United Press International reported, “A brilliant sun shone on the 4,200-foot [1,280.7-meter] suspension span and a cold wind blew across the lower bay of the harbor as a pair of polished scissors... Continue Reading →
May 17, 1976 The first commuter aerial tramway in North America was officially opened in New York City. This tramway, spanning the East River, serves as a public transit connection between Roosevelt Island and the Upper East Side of Manhattan. (An aerial tramway is a means of overhead transportation in which as many as two... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 