Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 20, 1894 Errett Lobban Cord, industrialist and trend-setting automobile manufacturer, was born in the city of Warrensburg, Missouri. Cord, knowing a profitable thing when he saw it, immersed himself in the ever-burgeoning world of automobile development and did much to help that mode of transportation come of age. The Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg automobiles... Continue Reading →
July 19, 1961 Trans World Airlines (TWA) introduced regularly scheduled in-flight movies during a transcontinental trip of a Boeing 707 between New York City and Los Angeles. The first movie to be shown as part of that new service was By Love Possessed, a drama starring Lana Turner and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. The screening of the movie... Continue Reading →
June 24, 1995 USCGC Juniper (WLB-201), the lead ship of the U.S. Coast Guard’s seagoing buoy tenders, was launched. This vessel, weighing 2,000 tons (1,814.4 metric tons) and measuring 225 feet (69 meters) in length, had the distinction of being outfitted with some of the most advanced technological and navigational capabilities available at that time. These capabilities include skimming... Continue Reading →
May 27, 1972 The U.S. International Transportation Exposition -- best known as Transpo ‘72 -- was formally opened at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia (26 miles [41.8 kilometers] west of Washington, D.C.). U.S. Transportation Secretary John A. Volpe presided over the opening of that extensive nine-day trade show. “Flying trains, square dancing helicopters and the... Continue Reading →
May 20, 1959 The Ford Motor Company introduced the concept model of the Levacar Mach I, an air-propelled automobile, in the Ford Rotunda in Dearborn, Michigan. The guiding force behind the design for the single-passenger, wheels-free Levacar was Andrew A. Kucher, vice president of engineering for the Ford Motor Company and the head of its... Continue Reading →
May 11, 1930 August Charles Fruehauf, a freight transportation pioneer, died at his home in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, at the age of 61. Fruehauf was born in Fraser, Michigan, in 1868. By 1914, he had established himself in Detroit as a blacksmith and carriage builder. The turning point in Fruehauf’s career took place that same... Continue Reading →
March 25, 1932 The Anacapa Island Lighthouse on the entrance to Santa Barbara Channel – a section of the Pacific Ocean between the Southern California coast and the northern Channel Islands – made its debut. Anacapa Island is actually a chain of three small islets; the lighthouse was built on the easternmost islet, which is a... Continue Reading →
February 16, 1843 Henry Martyn Leland, who would leave an indelible mark on the American automobile industry, was born in northeastern Vermont. As a young man, he worked as for the renowned tools manufacturer Brown & Sharp in Providence, Rhode Island. That job and others helped Leland refine a wide range of mass-production and mechanical... Continue Reading →
In 1993, American astronaut Ellen Ochoa made history as the first Hispanic woman to travel into outer space. This pioneering flight involved a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery in which she helped conduct an array of atmospheric and solar studies. Ochoa was born in Los Angeles in 1958. She earned a bachelor’s degree in... Continue Reading →
October 9, 1935 Harvey A. Moyer, a prolific transportation entrepreneur who manufactured both horse-drawn carriages and luxury automobiles, died in Syracuse, New York, at the age of 62. Moyer, who had been born in the New York town of Clay in 1853, demonstrated a strong interest in creating vehicles relatively early on in life. When... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 