Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
November 6, 1926 In Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, hundreds of people showed up for the official dedication of a still-incomplete vehicular tunnel in Pittsburgh. This tunnel serves as a link between Second Avenue at the South Tenth Street Bridge and – via a section underneath Duquesne University and the Steel City neighborhood known as the Bluff... Continue Reading →
November 5, 2009 An elevated infill station on Line 4 of the Chilean rapid transit system known as the Santiago Metro was opened to the public. This station, which is located at the intersection of Vicuña Mackenna Avenue and San José de la Estrella Street in the commune of La Florida in Chile’s capital city,... Continue Reading →
October 27, 1999 Eugenia da Montijo station was opened as an infill station of Line 5 of the Madrid Metro, a rapid transit system serving the metropolitan area of Spain’s capital city. An infill station is a type of passenger rail station that is built on an existing line between two similar stations already in... Continue Reading →
December 13, 1881 A 207-foot (63-meter)-tall electric light tower built at the intersection of Santa Clara and Market Streets in downtown San Jose, California, was officially dedicated. The major force who proposed the installation of this tower in the first place was James Jerome Owen (1827-1895), publisher of the San Jose Mercury (precursor of the... Continue Reading →
June 21, 1815 Thomas Smith, an engineer who made notable contributions to the illumination of street lights as well as far-flung lighthouses, died at his home at 2 Baxter’s Place in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. He was 62. Smith was born on December 6, 1752, in Broughty Ferry, a suburb of the Scottish city... Continue Reading →
October 14, 1892 The first type of tram service in the city of Belgrade in the Kingdom of Serbia (a region that is now part of the Republic of Serbia) was formally introduced. The government of Serbia’s capital had contracted with Periklos Tziklos, a native of Italy, to build this public transportation system. The first... Continue Reading →
