Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Richard Francis "Dick" Gordon Jr., who made notable contributions as both a U.S. Navy aviator and NASA astronaut, died at his home in the city of San Marcos, California. He was 88. Gordon had been born in Seattle on October 5, 1929. After graduating from the University of Washington in 1951 with a B.S. in... Continue Reading →
October 28, 1967 An airport in the town and locality of Chinchilla in the Australian state of Queensland was officially opened. The inaugural duties for the occasion were performed by Reginald Swartz (1911-2006), who was Australia’s minister for civil aviation from 1966 to 1969. This ceremony took place two days after the first aircraft had... Continue Reading →
Trailblazing airline pilot Linda Pauwels was born Linda Pfeiffer in San Pedro, a city in Argentina’s Province of Buenos Aires, in 1963. She was the daughter of Mabel Gaspard Pfeiffer, a native Argentinian who worked as a schoolteacher; and Jerzy “Jorge” Pfeiffer, a Polish-born naturalized Argentine citizen. Pauwels was only six years old when her... Continue Reading →
September 16, 1946 In the aftermath of World War II, the airline Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali was formally instituted in Rome. “British European Airways and the Italian Institute for Industrial Reconstruction signed an agreement today establishing a new British-Italian airline to be called the ‘Italian International Airlines,’” reported the Associated Press. “At the start the line... Continue Reading →
August 12, 1971 Walter Owen “W.O.” Bentley, who achieved renown for the automobiles that he designed and built, died in a nursing home in northwestern England’s town and borough of Woking. He was 83. Bentley was born on September 16, 1888, in the Hampstead area of London. He attended Clifton College in Bristol from 1902... Continue Reading →
August 12, 1911 The Chicago International Aviation Meet was formally launched. This eight-day air show, which was characterized by the Indiana-based Logansport Journal as “the greatest aggregation of human birds ever assembled,” took place in the section of Grant Park that is along Lake Michigan. The event was held under the aegis of the International Aviation... Continue Reading →
August 8, 1929 An airport built about two miles (1.6 kilometers) southeast of the downtown area of Salem, Oregon, was officially dedicated. As the 1920s was fast approaching its end, the development of facilities to support airborne transportation had become a top priority for numerous municipalities throughout the United States -- including the capital of the... Continue Reading →
July 7, 1942 Exactly seven months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Gulfport Army Airfield in southern Mississippi was opened as a small but still pivotal part of the United States’ overall involvement in World War II on the side of the Allies. This airport in the city of Gulfport was built by the U.S. Army... Continue Reading →
July 1, 1872 Transportation pioneer Louis Blériot was born in the city of Cambrai in northern France. He studied engineering at École Centrale (now part of CentraleSupélec) in Paris. Automobiles became the first means of transportation in which Blériot became actively involved. He developed the world’s first practical headlamps for these vehicles by using a... Continue Reading →
June 10, 1909 Aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright were formally honored by President William Howard Taft for their considerable airborne accomplishments. The ceremony, which was held in the East Room of the White House, took place about five-and-a-half years after the brothers made transportation history with the world’s first controlled, powered, and sustained heavier-than-air... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 