Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 14, 1927 The first automobile to be manufactured by the newly formed Swedish manufacturer Volvo made its public debut. Volvo was established as a subsidiary of SKF, a bearing and seal manufacturing company based in the city of Gothenburg on Sweden’s western coast. In 1915, SKF had registered the trademark Volvo -- the Latin... Continue Reading →
For nearly 15 years, Sarah A. Cleverly Atwood (1837-1920) was part of a select few among American women who served as lighthouse keepers during the 19th century. She was born in the town of Wellfleet on Cape Cod in southeastern Massachusetts. Her parents were William Cleverly (1797-1887) and Hannah Pierce Cleverly (1808-1893). On February 4,... Continue Reading →
March 19, 1964 The Great St Bernard Tunnel joining Switzerland and Italy was officially opened to vehicular traffic. This tunnel became the first one running through the formidable Alps for automobiles, and it is a major link between the municipality of Martigny in southwestern Switzerland and the comune of Aosta in northwestern Italy. The tunnel... 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 →
February 23. 1984 On the Australian island state of Tasmania, the Bowen Bridge in the city of Hobart was dedicated. This 3,202-foot (976-meter)-long segmental cantilever bridge carries Goodwood Road (Route B35) across the River Derwent. The Bowen Bridge serves a key link for motor vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists traveling between the eastern and western areas... Continue Reading →
February 20, 2020 Operations began for the first two sets of four-car 8100 class trains that had been recently acquired by the Philippine National Railways (PNR) as part of its efforts to improve commuter services in Metro Manila (the National Capital Region), the largest metropolitan area of that Southeast Asian archipelagic country. These diesel multiple... Continue Reading →
February 18, 2019 An infrastructure milestone took place for City Railway Station in the city of Bengaluru (also called Bangalore), which is the capital of the state of Karnataka in southern India. This underground station on the East-West corridor of Namma Metro rapid transit system’s Purple Line had been opened on April 30, 2016. Nearly... Continue Reading →
January 26, 1830 On Scotland’s northeastern coast, a lighthouse on the Tarbat Ness headland first went into service. (Tarbat is derived from “tairbeart,” a Gaelic word for “isthmus”; “ness” is an Old Norse term for “headland.”) This structure was designed by the renowned civil engineer Robert Stevenson for the Northern Lighthouse Board (the general lighthouse... Continue Reading →
October 2, 1902 Operations began for a lighthouse in England’s ceremonial county of East Sussex. This lighthouse is located in the part of the English Channel that is below the cliffs of the headland known as Beachy Head. It was built to replace the Belle Tout Lighthouse, which had been in service since 1834 and... Continue Reading →
Luis Ramón de Florez, who earned renown as a U.S. Navy aviator and officer, was born in New York City on March 4, 1889. His father Raphael V. de Florez was Spanish and his mother Marie Stephanie (Bernard) de Florez was French. Luis Ramón de Florez attended preparatory schools in both Paris, France, and the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 