Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 23, 1950 In the midst of the Korean War, the United States Merchant Marine ship SS Meredith Victory departed North Korea’s port city of Hŭngnam carrying thousands of refugees. The evacuation holds the record as the largest-ever humanitarian rescue operation by a single ship. In December 1950, United Nations Command (UNC) troops led by the... Continue Reading →
December 20, 1935 Birchenough Bridge made its debut in what was then the British Crown colony of Southern Rhodesia (now the independent Republic of Zimbabwe). Sir Herbert Stanley, governor of Southern Rhodesia, officially opened the bridge, which was constructed across the Save River (also known as the Sabi River) to serve as a major link... Continue Reading →
December 19, 1918 Construction began on a lighthouse within the region of Tierra del Fuego that is part of Argentina. Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse was specifically built on an islet in the Beagle Channel as a navigational aid for vessels sailing to and from Ushuaia, which is one of the world’s southernmost cities. The islet where... Continue Reading →
December 18, 1970 The Audubon Parkway in western Kentucky was formally opened as a toll road. The inaugural ceremony for this newest addition to Kentucky’s parkways network took place on a windy Friday afternoon at a toll plaza located 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) west of the city of Owensboro. Approximately 300 people attended the event,... Continue Reading →
December 12, 1933 Indian National Airways Ltd began operations. This airline had been established seven months earlier in Delhi, India, by British industrialist R.E. Grant Govan as part of his business Govan Bros Ltd. (At the time, the Indian subcontinent was still under British rule.) Indian National Airways was only the second commercial airline to... Continue Reading →
December 11, 1922 The Nevada State Department of Highways (forerunner of the present-day Nevada Department of Transportation) completed work on a section of road in Humboldt County in the state’s northern region. This 10.8-mile (17.4 -kilometer)-long section was located between the unincorporated community of Stonehouse and the county’s border with Lander County. The work done... Continue Reading →
December 10, 1954 Flight surgeon and U.S. Air Force Colonel John Paul Stapp earned the nickname of “Fastest Man on Earth” when he rode a rocket-powered sled up to 632 miles (1,017 kilometers) per hour in five seconds. The 44-year-old Stapp rode that sled, which was called the Sonic Wind, at Holloman Air Force Base... Continue Reading →
December 9, 1892 A large amount of money was unexpectedly made available for the funding of a new lighthouse in northwestern France. The disbursement of this money for a lighthouse was one of the provisions in the will of a noblewoman who had died two months earlier at the age of 77. Adélaïde-Louise Davout, Marquise... Continue Reading →
December 6, 2015 In northeastern Japan, a new subway line began operations in the city of Sendai in the Tōhoku region. The east-west Tozai Line was the second of the Sendai Subway’s two lines to go into service, with the north-south Namboku Line having been opened in 1987. The Tozai Line encompasses a total of... Continue Reading →
December 5, 1885 A new system of horse-drawn trams (streetcars) was inaugurated in the vicinity of Bridgetown on the Caribbean island of Barbados. At the time, Barbados was a British colony; it has been an independent state and Commonwealth realm (with Queen Elizabeth II reigning as the current monarch) since 1966. As far back as... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 