Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 26, 2015 EverLine, an automated driverless guideway transit line (also known as a people mover) in South Korea’s city of Yongin in the Seoul Capital Area -- the fourth largest metropolitan region in the world -- was formally opened to great fanfare. This transit line serves as a key link between Everland, which is... Continue Reading →
April 21, 2015 A still-intact world speed record for rail vehicles was established in Japan when a seven-car L0 Series train reached a maximum of 375 miles (603 kilometers) per hour. This record-breaking trip took place on a test track in the city of Tsuru in Yamanashi Prefecture, which is part of the Chūbu region... Continue Reading →
April 12, 1890 Nearly three decades after becoming the first streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., the Washington and Georgetown Railroad achieved a new milestone by switching from horse-drawn streetcars to cable cars. “CABLE CARS RUNNING,” proclaimed a headline in that day’s edition of the Washington Critic. This change took placed due to a... Continue Reading →
April 10, 1969 Harley J. Earl, a pioneer of modern automobile design, died in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 75. He started out life in Hollywood, California. His father’s own transportation career involved building horse-drawn vehicles in the late 19th century and then focusing on custom bodies and accessories for automobiles. Harley eventually worked... Continue Reading →
April 3, 1996 The British sports car Jaguar E-Type, which achieved worldwide renown when it was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1961 and 1974, made another cultural breakthrough by becoming only the third automobile placed on permanent exhibit at the New York City Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Christopher Mount, assistant curator for the... Continue Reading →
March 23, 2012 The newly renovated version of Jalgaon Airport in India was formally inaugurated. This domestic airport is located southeast of the city of Jalgaon in the state of Maharashtra in India’s western peninsular region. (Maharashtra is the second-most populous state of India and the country’s third-largest state by area.) Jalgaon Airport was opened... Continue Reading →
March 21, 1850 Trailblazing bicycle manufacturer Albert H. Overman was born in Fulton County, Illinois. Early on in life, he developed a strong interest in the mechanics of transportation. Overman said in an 1897 interview with the New York-based World newspaper, “I have all my life been engaged in experimental work connected with man-propelled machinery,... Continue Reading →
March 13, 1883 Civil engineer Clifford Milburn Holland was born in the town of Somerset, Massachusetts. His career would encompass construction on several tunnels in and around New York City. His crowning achievement when it came to those tunnels involved the one that now bears his name: the Holland Tunnel, which was built under the Hudson... Continue Reading →
JoAnn Hardin Morgan made history as the first female engineer at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Merritt Island in Florida. She was also the first woman to serve as a senior executive at KSC. Morgan was born on December 4, 1940, in the city of Huntsville, Alabama. Her father, Don Hardin, was... Continue Reading →
February 24, 1839 Civil engineer William Smith Otis of Philadelphia was issued U.S. patent number 1,089 for the steam shovel, which was classified in that patent as a “Crane-Excavator for Excavating and Removing Earth.” As designed by Otis, this large steam-powered machine -- when mounted on wheeled devices such as carriages or railroad cars --... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 