Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 28, 1979 A major aviation milestone took place with the celebration of an extended runway for a longtime public-use, general aviation airport in northwestern Minnesota’s community of Pinecreek. This 1,150-foot (350.5-foot) extension, by stretching the runway across the United States’ border with Canada and into the community of Piney in the Canadian province of... Continue Reading →
July 21, 1941 The basic infrastructure for a U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) airfield in southern California was completed as part of a rapid-construction project. This infrastructure included runways, airplane hangars, and a control tower for the recently designated airfield, which was located nine miles (14.5 kilometers) southeast of the city of Taft. This construction... Continue Reading →
June 22, 1909 Talk about being multimodal! The firm of Wyckoff, Church & Partridge (WCP), automobile dealers based in New York City, formally became the first corporate entity in the United States to sell planes. As far as automobiles were concerned, WCP had already established itself by that time as an early pioneer in showrooms... Continue Reading →
March 15, 1941 The first flight of Philippine Air Lines (PAL), a flag carrier for the Philippines, took place when a twin-engine, five-seater Beechcraft Model 18 NPC-54 plane departed from Nielson Field in the city of Makati for Baguio City. (Both of these cities are on the Filipino island of Luzon). This flight occurred a... Continue Reading →
Blanche Stuart Scott, who made notable contributions involving two modes of transportation, was born in Rochester, New York, in1885. She developed a strong interest in automobiles early on in life. In 1910, Scott became only the second woman -- after Alice Huyler Ramsey -- to drive one of those vehicles from one coast to another within... Continue Reading →
March 7, 1889 Pioneering naval aviator Godfrey de Courcelles Chevalier was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1910 and then embarked on a comparatively short-lived but significant aviation career. Chevalier, who would be described in one news account as “one of the navy’s most daring aviators,” took to the... Continue Reading →
January 18, 1857 Henry Wigram, who became a transportation pioneer in New Zealand, was born in London, England. Wigram immigrated to what was then the British colony of New Zealand in 1883. He settled in the city of Christchurch, located in the Canterbury region of New Zealand’s South Island. Wigram eventually became involved in Christchurch’s... Continue Reading →
December 10, 1948 A single-runway airport on Northerly Island, a 91-acre (437-hectare) artificial peninsula located along the section of Lake Michigan that is in Chicago, was officially opened. Construction on this airport had begun in 1946. The public officials taking part in the dedication ceremonies for Northerly Island Airport included Martin H. Kennelly, mayor of... Continue Reading →
December 2, 1961 An airport in northeastern Italy’s region of Friuli Venezia Giulia officially began commercial operations. This airport is specifically located about 19 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of Trieste, the capital city of Friuli Venezia Giulia. As far back as 1935, that aviation facility had been used as a base for the country’s air... Continue Reading →
During World War II, Thomas “Tom” Oxendine became the first Native American to be commissioned as a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Oxendine was a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Most of the members of this tribe have lived in Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke, and Scotland counties in North Carolina. Oxendine was born... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 