Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
May 27, 2014 In the Bahamas, a newly built terminal for an airport in the town of Marsh Harbour first went into service. Marsh Harbour, which is located on Great Abaco Island (the largest of the country’s Abaco Islands), has achieved renown over the years as a major tourist attraction. “The 46,000 square foot [4,300... Continue Reading →
Henry Hope Wong was born to William Hope Wong (originally known as Wong Fook On), a Chinese immigrant, and Cheruo “Mabel” Hope Wong (also identified as Chun Yow) in 1900 in Portland, Oregon. Henry became one of the first people of Chinese descent in that region of the United States to pursue taking to the... Continue Reading →
April 29, 1909 Aviation pioneer Pearl Laska Chamberlain was born to John W. and Lanie C. Bragg on Chestnut Mountain in Summers County, West Virginia. One of eight children, Chamberlain started out life as Lelia Pearl Bragg. At the age of 17, Chamberlain became a school teacher; she remained in this profession to one extent... Continue Reading →
April 14, 1960 Aviation pioneer Dr. William Whitney Christmas died at Bellevue Hospital in New York City at the age of 94. He was born on September 1, 1865, in the town of Warrenton, North Carolina. After earning his M.D. from George Washington University in 1905, Christmas practiced medicine for just a few years before devoting... Continue Reading →
March 12, 1908 The first public demonstration of a powered aircraft flight in the United States took place near the village of Hammondsport, New York. “First Public Trip of Heavier-than-air Car in America,” announced a headline in the next day’s edition of the Washington Post. The aircraft used for that pioneering flight was the Red Wing. This... Continue Reading →
Aviation pioneer Phoebe Jane Fairgrave Omlie was born on November 21, 1902, in Des Moines, Iowa. When Omlie was 12 years old, she and her family moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her lifelong interest in aviation started the day before she graduated from Mechanic Arts High School in Minnesota’s capital city in 1920. This was when... Continue Reading →
A trailblazing pilot, Mildred Hemmons Carter started out life in the community of Isabella (also known as Benson) in central Alabama. She was born there on September 14, 1921, to Mamie and Luther Hemmons. Mildred and her family eventually moved to the city of Tuskegee in the eastern part of the state. After living there... Continue Reading →
December 6, 1875 Albert Bond Lambert was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He led an eventful life in several decidedly different capacities, which included being a golfer in the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics; the president and later chairman of a pharmaceutical company founded by his father (who also helped create the mouthwash Listerine); and police... Continue Reading →
November 26, 1931 Thanksgiving Day in 1931 proved to be memorable in New York City. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade started at 1:30 that afternoon in Manhattan at 110th and Broadway. The large helium balloons being carried in that year’s parade included a turkey, a dragon, a two-headed Martian, the popular cartoon star Felix the... Continue Reading →
November 12, 2008 Operations fully began for a state-of-the-art terminal at Indianapolis International Airport. (This airport, which dates back to 1931, was originally known as Indianapolis Municipal Airport.) The new terminal was named after H. Weir Cook, one of the Hoosier State’s most prominent miliary heroes and aviation trailblazers. Cook had been born in 1892... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 