Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 17, 1903 The Great Western Railway (GWR), which originated in the 1830s and operated throughout western England as well as most of Wales, began a new type of transit option for its passengers traveling to rural areas without direct access to trains. The GWR road motor services were seen as a cheaper alternative to building... Continue Reading →
Photo Credit: Library of Congress April 25, 1859 The first streetcars in Chicago made their debut. These horse-drawn vehicles began their service on a single rail track on State Street between Randolph and 12th Streets. Chicago’s inaugural streetcars – also known as horsecars – measured 12 feet (3.7 meters) in length and traveled three miles... Continue Reading →
April 17, 1964 The Ford Mustang, a trend-setting automobile produced by Ford Motor Company and described in that day’s edition of the New York Times as “a cross between a sports car and a family sedan,” made its official debut at the World's Fair in New York City. The Mustang was the result of Ford’s... Continue Reading →
April 16, 1831 The side-wheeler steamboat Yellowstone (also spelled out as Yellow Stone) departed St. Louis, Missouri, for her maiden voyage. The vessel, which was characterized by the St. Louis Register later that spring as a “new and handsome steam boat,” had been built in Louisville, Kentucky, for merchant John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. The... Continue Reading →
April 12, 1792 The Second U.S. Congress authorized the creation of a pioneering lighthouse in New York. The actual construction of this lighthouse, which is located at the easternmost point of Long Island in the hamlet of Montauk, finally took place four years later. Montauk Point Lighthouse was the first lighthouse built within the state... Continue Reading →
April 2, 1910 Thomas Buckland Jeffery, a pioneering manufacturer of bicycles and automobiles, died at the age of 65 while vacationing in Pompeii, Italy. Jeffery was born in Stoke, England, in 1845. He immigrated to the United States when he was 18 and settled in Chicago. Jeffery went into the bicycle business several years later.... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 