Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 12, 1860 At about three o’clock on a Thursday afternoon, a pilot boat named Fannie was launched at the junction of Bushwick Creek and the East River in the Greenpoint neighborhood of the city of Brooklyn (now one of New York City’s five boroughs). This type of vessel operates in the vicinity of a... Continue Reading →
June 20, 1860 In New York City, a 78-foot (23.8-meter)-long pilot boat was launched from the foot of 12th Street and into the East River. 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 maritime... Continue Reading →
May 10, 1865 A foundation stone was laid for the third and current version of St Bees Lighthouse in northwestern England. This ceremony marked the start of construction on this structure on the headland known as St Bees Head, which overlooks the Irish Sea. Those on hand for the ceremony included Henry Norris, an engineer... Continue Reading →
April 25, 1885 Marcus Aurelius Hanna, the head keeper at Cape Elizabeth Light (also known as Two Lights) at the mouth of Casco Bay on Maine’s southern coast, received the prestigious Gold Lifesaving Medal. Daniel Manning, who was U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1885 to 1887, awarded this medal to Hanna for his heroic... Continue Reading →
April 15, 1914 Maughold Head Lighthouse on the eastern coast of the Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, first went into service. This lighthouse, which overlooks Ramsey Bay, is named for the headland upon which it was built. (Maughold Head marks the closest point -- a distance of only 31... Continue Reading →
March 20, 1910 The Montedor Lighthouse (Farol de Montedor) along Portugal’s Atlantic coast officially went into service. This 92-foot (28-meter)-tall granite tower, which stands on a promontory that is part of the municipality of Viana de Castelo, has the distinction of being the northernmost lighthouse in Portugal. The Montedor Lighthouse is seven nautical miles (13... Continue Reading →
March 19, 1947 William Starling Burgess, whose transportation legacy spans multiple means of mobility, died at his home in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was 68. Burgess was born in Boston on Christmas Day in 1878. His father, Edward Burgess, was a renowned yacht designer. Early on in life, William Starling Burgess demonstrated a high level... Continue Reading →
Maria E. Beasley (c. 1836-1913), a pioneering female inventor who was born in North Carolina, is best known for creating machines and other industrial processes for the more efficient production of barrels. She also obtained patents for various other types of inventions, however, and some of those patents involved key improvements to transportation safety. ... Continue Reading →
Grace Darling earned worldwide acclaim for her heroic efforts to help rescue survivors of a shipwreck off the coast of northeastern England’s ceremonial county of Northumberland in 1838. The seventh of nine children, Darling was born in Northumberland on November 24, 1815. Her father William was a lighthouse keeper. In 1826, William Darling became keeper... Continue Reading →
March 5, 2008 John C. Mackie, who served as Michigan’s state highway commissioner, passed away in Warrenton, Virginia, at the age of 88. He was also the 51st president of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), which is now known as the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Mackie was... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 