Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
June 16, 1941 About six months before the United States officially entered World War II on the side of the Allies, the schooner Bowdoin was commissioned into the U.S. Navy. USS Bowdoin (IX-50) became one of this military branch’s few sail-powered vessels at the time. Bowdoin was placed under the command of USNR (U.S. Navy... Continue Reading →
June 7, 1879 Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen, polar explorer and dogsled driver extraordinaire, was born in the town of Jakobshavn (now Ilulissat) in western Greenland. His father was a Danish missionary, and his mother was of both Danish and Inuit descent. As a child growing up in the often harsh Arctic region, Rasmussen early on... Continue Reading →
May 12, 1926 The Italian-built airship Norge successfully completed the first verified flight over the North Pole. This aircraft was also the first to fly over the ice cap between Europe and North America. Polar explorer Roald Amundsen of Norway was the leader of this airborne expedition. The other members of the expedition included Italian aviator... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 