Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
November 6, 2018 In the city of Bhubaneswar in eastern India’s state of Odisha, a public transport bus service known as Mo Bus (the Hindi phrase for “my bus”) was launched. (Bhubaneswar is the capital of Odisha and also that state’s largest city.) Mo Bus was officially inaugurated by Naveen Patnaik, who has served as... Continue Reading →
October 9, 1890 French inventor and engineer Clément Ader made aviation history when he attempted to fly a steam-powered aircraft that he had built. This aircraft was named the Éole in honor of Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the winds, and it featured wings resembling those of a bat. Ader tested his flying machine just... Continue Reading →
For nearly four decades now, Michael P. Huerta has served in a wide range of high-ranking transportation roles. In a 2011 speech at the National Hispanic Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees Annual Training Conference, Huerta addressed not only those professional achievements but also the prejudicial treatment he sometimes encountered early on in life as a... Continue Reading →
September 26, 2009 More than a quarter-century after its operations were halted, the trolleybus system in the city and commune (municipality) of Chieti in central Italy was brought back into service. The following month, Omar Cugini reported on this milestone was in the Rome-based magazine TheCommuter: News from the World of Mobility and Public Transport.... Continue Reading →
August 9, 1831 The first regular steam engine train run in the United States took place in New York. The small four-wheeled steam engine DeWitt Clinton, which had been constructed in the Empire State earlier that year and was among the first steam engines to debut in the United States, successfully completed the trip of approximately... Continue Reading →
July 18, 1931 The Matson Navigation Company ocean liner SS Mariposa was launched at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. (That facility served as part of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s shipbuilding division.) Mariposa was built for service on a Pacific Ocean route between San Francisco, California, and Sydney, Australia. This ship was the largest passenger... Continue Reading →
June 23, 1916 Modine Manufacturing Company, which would become an international force in heating-and-cooling technology for motor vehicles, was incorporated. This company started out as a business run by engineer Arthur B. Modine in a one-room office adjacent to a small workshop in Racine, Wisconsin. Modine Manufacturing Company made its debut at a time when... Continue Reading →
June 15, 1962 A newly built lighthouse on Sullivan’s Island, located at the northern entrance to Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, was first lit. “It’s unique among the hundreds of lighthouses in the nation in that its tower is triangular; the better to withstand hurricane winds that periodically pound the coast,” asserted an Associated Press... Continue Reading →
June 6, 1933 The first open air drive-in movie theater opened on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey. Richard M. Hollingshead (1899-1975), finding a new way to use the “horseless carriage,” worked out the details for that theater by experimenting with the setup in his own driveway. One major challenge involved the automobiles that would... Continue Reading →
June 5, 1935 The New York, New Haven & Hartford (NH) Railroad officially introduced its double-ended diesel electric passenger train Comet for service between Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island. This streamliner -- a high-speed railway vehicle designed to provide reduced air resistance and also the precursor to a later era’s “bullet train” -- had... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 