Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 17, 1923 A vertical-lift bridge crossing the Piscataqua River and connecting the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with Badger’s Island in the town of Kittery, Maine, was formally inaugurated. This bridge was dedicated to the memory of American soldiers and sailors who had lost their lives during World War I just a few years... Continue Reading →
July 24, 1920 A steamship constructed by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation was launched at the company’s shipyard in the industrial area of Sparrows Point in the Baltimore region. Initially called Bertice, this ship was renamed Buckeye State – the nickname of the state of Ohio – by the time of her launch. SS Buckeye State... Continue Reading →
May 27, 1903 SS Lord Baltimore, a coastal passenger steamship, was launched at the shipyard of Harlan & Hollingsworth in Wilmington, Delaware. SS Lord Baltimore was built by Harlan & Hollingsworth for the Ericsson Line of the Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamboat Company. This vessel was named after Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore (1605-1675), who served... Continue Reading →
May 26, 1989 Operations began for a fully automated container and bulk goods port in the city of New Bombay (since renamed Navi Mumbai) in western India’s state of Maharashtra. It became the first new port built in India in more than two decades. This port was named after Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), who served as... Continue Reading →
In January 2021, Giao Phan became executive director of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). She was the first Asian American woman to serve in this position at the largest and most complex of the U.S. Navy’s five materiel agencies responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of various military systems. Phan was born in... Continue Reading →
April 16, 2012 Only four days after what would be his last public appearance, Danish shipping magnate Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller died in Copenhagen at the age of 98. He had been a longtime leader at A.P Møller – Mærsk Group (known simply as Maersk), the shipping and logistics company that his father Arnold Peter... Continue Reading →
For nearly 15 years, Sarah A. Cleverly Atwood (1837-1920) was part of a select few among American women who served as lighthouse keepers during the 19th century. She was born in the town of Wellfleet on Cape Cod in southeastern Massachusetts. Her parents were William Cleverly (1797-1887) and Hannah Pierce Cleverly (1808-1893). On February 4,... Continue Reading →
March 18, 1897 A pilot boat named New York was launched at the shipyards of the transportation manufacturing firm Harlan & Hollingsworth Company in Wilmington, Delaware. This type of vessel operates in the vicinity of a port and is used to transport maritime pilots to ships in the area. While on board a ship, the... Continue Reading →
March 17, 1915 Jacob Ackerman, who earned legendary status for his longtime roles as a captain of vessels and the keeper of a lighthouse on the Hudson River, died in the village of Tarrytown in New York’s Westchester County. He was 88 years old. The New York Times attributed his death to paralysis. Ackerman was... Continue Reading →
February 11, 1974 In the state of Pará in northern Brazil, a port in the city of Santarém was inaugurated. The Port of Santarém is located on the right bank of the Tapajós River and only about two miles (three kilometers) from where this river converges with the Amazon River. (The Tapajós River is formed... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 