Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 5, 1941 Nigel Gresley, a railway engineer who made major contributions to the development of high-powered steam locomotives, died at his home in Hertford, England, at the age of 64. He was born in 1876 in Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh and raised in the English village and civil parish of Netherseal. After attending... Continue Reading →
April 4, 2016 In Indonesia, Merah-Putih Bridge was dedicated in the province of Maluku less than five years after construction on it had begun. Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo formally opened the red-and-white bridge, which spans Ambon Bay in Maluku’s capital city of Ambon. Other public officials attending this ceremony included Basuki Hadimuljono, Indonesia’s minister... Continue Reading →
April 1, 1909 Automobile coachbuilder Fleetwood Metal Body was formally launched in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, with Harry C. Urich serving as the new company’s president and general manager. Fleetwood Metal Body soon established itself as a leading high-quality producer of aluminum and wood automotive chassis. By 1920, the company was regularly exhibiting its creations at prestigious automobile... Continue Reading →
One day in August 1888, Bertha Benz (1849-1944) made transportation history when she undertook the first long-distance automobile drive on record. Bertha, who lived in the city of Mannheim in the German Empire state known as the Grand Duchy of Baden (part of the present-day Federal Republic of Germany), used one of the automobiles built... Continue Reading →
March 28, 1918 A milestone in the short but eventful U.S. Navy service of the vessel USS Aphrodite took place when she was assigned to convoy escort duty with a higher-than-average risk along the French coast during World War I. Aphrodite had made her debut a couple of decades earlier in decidedly more luxurious circumstances.... Continue Reading →
Aviation pioneer Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes (1901-1975) developed a strong enthusiasm for human flight early on in her life. When she was only eight years old, her grandfather Thaddeus S.C. Lowe – an aviation legend who achieved fame as the Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Balloon Corps during the Civil War – took her... Continue Reading →
March 26, 1863 Truck industrialist George Albert Brockway was born in the village of Homer, New York. He was the son of William Northrup Brockway, who manufactured horse-drawn carriages and wagons. After William was stricken with a debilitating illness in 1888 that brought about his death the following year, George stepped in as the company’s business manager.... Continue Reading →
During the late 19th century, Tillie Anderson established herself as a fiercely determined and highly accomplished bicyclist. Anderson was born in southern Sweden in 1875. She immigrated to the United States in 1891 and ended up living in Chicago. Anderson worked as a seamstress in a tailor’s shop. When she was 18, Anderson bought her... Continue Reading →
March 21, 1869 Albert Kahn, who helped create a number of key transportation-oriented facilities and is widely regarded as the “father of modern factory design,” was born in Rhaunen in the Kingdom of Prussia (now Germany). When Kahn was 11, he and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Detroit. Kahn worked at... Continue Reading →
On August 7, 1909, Alice Huyler Ramsey and her three passengers became the first women to complete a coast-to-coast automobile trip when they arrived in San Francisco 59 days after leaving New York City. Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife, and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, made the 3,800-mile (6,115.5-kilometer) trek in a green Maxwell DA touring... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 