Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 27, 2005 A pivotal moment took place for construction on a railway tunnel in the northeastern part of Honshu, the largest island of Japan, when both halves of this structure were joined together. This breakthrough occurred about six-and-a-half years after the start of that construction project. That tunnel specifically courses through the Hakkōda mountain... Continue Reading →
February 14, 1941 A formal acknowledgement -- albeit one that had to be clarified -- was accorded the person who drove the one-millionth motor vehicle through New York City’s Queens-Midtown Tunnel about three months after the debut of that structure. The office of William H. Friedman, commissioner of the New York City Tunnel Authority (now part... Continue Reading →
January 10, 1975 In West Germany (now part of the Federal Republic of Germany), a vehicular tunnel crossing under the Elbe River in the city of Hamburg was officially opened. Construction on the New Elbe Tunnel -- also called Elbtunnel -- had begun in 1968. Helmut Schmidt (1918-2015), who served as chancellor of West Germany... Continue Reading →
December 12, 2022 A high-speed railway in the southeastern part of Norway was formally opened. This railway covers 14 miles (22 kilometers) altogether between Oslo, Norway’s capital and most populous city; and Ski, a town in the municipality of Nordre Follo in the district of Follo. Harald V (born in 1937), who has reigned as... Continue Reading →
November 29, 1957 A pair of two-lane road tunnels built southeast of downtown Baltimore was officially inaugurated. These 1.4-mile (2.3-kilometer)-long tunnels, collectively known as the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, carry Interstate 895 under the Patapsco River. Theodore McKeldin, who was governor of Maryland from 1951 to 1959, presided at the opening ceremonies for the Baltimore Harbor... Continue Reading →
October 2, 1872 The Denver, South Park and Pacific Railway (DPSP&P) was incorporated with 2.5 million dollars in capital in what was then the Colorado Territory. The original trustees for this narrow gauge railway were Walter S. Cheesman, Frederick A. Clark, Henry Crow, Leonard H. Eicholtz, John Evans, John Hughes, Charles B. Kountze, Donald H.... Continue Reading →
August 15, 2019 A road tunnel in northwestern Colombia’s department (subdivision) of Antioquia was officially opened to motor vehicle traffic. The Túnel de Oriente serves as a key link between Medellín, which is the capital of Antioquia and Colombia’s second largest city, and José María Córdova International Airport in the city of Rionegro. The public... Continue Reading →
August 4, 1902 The Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which crosses beneath the River Thames in East London, England, made its debut. This tunnel, connecting the district of Greenwich in the south with the Isle of Dogs to the north, was designed by civil engineer Sir Alexander Binnie (1839-1917). The Greenwich Foot Tunnel replaced a costly and too... Continue Reading →
June 26, 2007 Work began on a railway tunnel in the municipality of Bӕrum, a western suburb of Norway’s capital city of Oslo. A drilling and blasting method was used for creating this tunnel, which is now the major portion of the 4.2-mile (6.7-kilometer) Asker Line. The first dynamite salvo for the project was fired... Continue Reading →
April 18, 1965 A funicular railway serving Greece’s capital city of Athens was inaugurated. Regular operations for this means of public transit began the following day. This railway, which is located in the central section of Athens, was built by the Greek National Tourism Organization to carry people up and down a steep limestone hill... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 