Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
On July 16, 1969, the three astronauts of Apollo 11 began a momentous journey when a Saturn V rocket launched their spacecraft into the heavens from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida. A half-century later, the Moon-bound trip undertaken by Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins remains one of the greatest... Continue Reading →
July 23, 2004 In the city of Mostar in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a celebration was held to commemorate the opening of a rebuilt version of a centuries-old bridge crossing the river Neretva. (Mostar is 45 miles, or 72.4 kilometers, southwest of Sarajevo.) The festivities for the rebuilt Mostar Bridge (also known as... Continue Reading →
July 19, 1843 In southwestern England, the record-setting iron steamship SS Great Britain was launched at Bristol Harbour amid great fanfare. Prince Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom and the husband of Queen Victoria, arrived in Bristol at ten o’clock that morning to participate in the festivities for the new vessel. The Illustrated London... Continue Reading →
July 18, 1914 French pilot Maurice Guillaux achieved a major aviation record by completing the first official airmail flight in Australia. Guillaux began the Sydney-bound flight aboard a Bleriot XI monoplane on July 16 at 9:12 a.m., taking to the skies from the showgrounds in the Melbourne suburb of Flemington. Guillaux made landings at Seymour and... Continue Reading →
July 17, 2006 The Chilean Navy formally placed into service a ship that had been belonged to the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) for more than two decades. As an RNLN vessel, this ship was launched in 1984 and commissioned a couple of years. The vessel was named HNLMS (Her Netherlands Majesty’s Ship) Witte de With... Continue Reading →
July 16, 1902 In what is now the state of Kerala in southwestern India, the newly built Cochin Railway (commonly known today as the Shoranur Junction-Cochin Harbour Terminus section) was opened to passenger traffic. This took place more than six weeks after the railway was opened to freight traffic. At the time, this part of... Continue Reading →
July 15, 1919 The U.S. Army’s Cross-Country Motor Transport Train, just over a week after leaving Washington, D.C., to embark on its pioneering transcontinental journey, was traveling through Ohio and struggling with the aftereffects of heavy rain that threatened to significantly slow down the convoy. The California-bound procession of vehicles had crossed over into Ohio... Continue Reading →
July 12, 1939 Motorcycle designer and entrepreneur Arlen Ness was born in Moorhead, Minnesota. When he was in the sixth grade, Ness moved with his family to California. Prior to his motorcycle career, Ness worked in such positions as a pin setter at a bowling alley, a post office employee, and a furniture mover. Over... Continue Reading →
July 10, 1904 The final section of the Albula Railway in Switzerland’s easternmost and largest canton (member state) of Graubünden made its formal debut. This 1.9-mile (3-kilometer)-long segment links the municipality of Celerina with the village and internationally renowned spa resort of St. Moritz, and it began operations a year after the opening of the... Continue Reading →
July 9, 1861 In present-day South Africa, the legislature of the British colony widely known as the Cape Colony (in existence until 1910) passed an act allowing the creation of a company to provide transit services between Cape Town and the suburb of Sea Point. This legislative authorization led to the development of the Cape... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 