Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 6, 1875 Albert Bond Lambert was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He led an eventful life in several decidedly different capacities, which included being a golfer in the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics; the president and later chairman of a pharmaceutical company founded by his father (who also helped create the mouthwash Listerine); and police... Continue Reading →
November 12, 2008 Operations fully began for a state-of-the-art terminal at Indianapolis International Airport. (This airport, which dates back to 1931, was originally known as Indianapolis Municipal Airport.) The new terminal was named after H. Weir Cook, one of the Hoosier State’s most prominent miliary heroes and aviation trailblazers. Cook had been born in 1892... Continue Reading →
August 9, 1943 With the United States deeply embroiled in World War II at the time, the U.S. Navy purchased the steamship Zizania for military use on the home front. This acquisition marked only the latest of several major milestones for this longtime and multi-faceted vessel. The origins of Zizania, which owed her name to... Continue Reading →
August 1, 1894 Ottavio Bottecchia, who would achieve widespread renown as a champion cyclist, was born in the comune of Colle Umberto in northeastern Italy. He was the eighth of nine children. Bottecchia had only one year of formal schooling. His earliest jobs included working as a shoemaker and then a bricklayer. After Italy entered... Continue Reading →
July 5, 1917 The U.S. Navy acquired a wooden-hulled screw steam yacht named the Admiral from Gordon Dexter (186-1937), president of the Connecticut-based Submarine Signal Company. This acquisition took place three months after the United States’ entry in World War I on the side of the Allied Powers and at a time when the Navy... Continue Reading →
June 3, 1921 One of the most famous symbols of an American transportation company made its debut. This symbol was the bulldog representing what is now Mack Trucks, Inc. and it first appeared when the business was known as the International Motor Truck Corporation. More than two decades earlier, the brothers Jack and Gus -- seeking... Continue Reading →
May 16, 1929 The first-ever “Best Picture” Oscar went to a movie about planes. Wings, which was also the only silent movie to win that award, told the story of two men who are in love with the same woman and end up becoming fighter pilots in World War I. The actors who played these men... Continue Reading →
April 9, 1930 Edward Sycamore, described in the Guardian as "a well-known skipper of racing yachts,” died at his home in the English coastal town of Brightlingsea. He was 74. The next day’s edition of the Guardian noted, “He had few rivals in the art of handling and maneuvering racing craft.” Sycamore was born on... Continue Reading →
March 28, 1941 Champion cyclist Marcus Hurley passed away in New York City. He was 57. Hurley was born in New Rochelle, New York, on December 22, 1883. By the start of the 20th century, he had established himself as a formidable competitor in cycling races. These pedaling skills were clearly on display during a... Continue Reading →
March 19, 1947 William Starling Burgess, whose transportation legacy spans multiple means of mobility, died at his home in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was 68. Burgess was born in Boston on Christmas Day in 1878. His father, Edward Burgess, was a renowned yacht designer. Early on in life, William Starling Burgess demonstrated a high level... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 