Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 2, 1917 Mary Ellis, who would achieve renown for her achievements as a pilot during World War II, was born at Langley Farm in South East England’s village and civil parish of Leafield. As someone who grew up near a couple of Royal Air Force (RAF) bases, she developed a strong interest in aviation... Continue Reading →
January 11, 1938 The first aircraft landing at eastern Canada's recently completed Newfoundland Airport (present-day Gander International Airport) took place when pilot Douglas C. Fraser (1903-1990) flew a single-engine Fox Moth VO-ADE biplane owned by Imperial Airways down onto a runway there. “I can remember it quite well,” Fraser later recalled about that clear winter day. He... Continue Reading →
Francis J. Mee, whose service in the U.S. Navy spanned more than three decades, was born on August 11, 1899, on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota. This reservation is home to the federally recognized White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (also known as the White Earth Nation). Mee’s mother was... Continue Reading →
Linda Old Horn-Purdy, a member of the Crow Tribe, established herself as a trailblazer during her time in the U.S. Navy. In 1999, for example, she became one of the first women in that military branch to serve on a combatant ship. Old Horn-Purdy started out life on the Crow Agency reservation in Montana. “I... Continue Reading →
October 18, 1871 On Kyūshū -- the third largest of Japan’s five main islands -- a lighthouse built on Cape Sata in the present-day town of Minamiōsumi was first lit. This navigational aid is known as Satamisaki Lighthouse; “Satamisaki,” which is also spelled out as “Sata Misaki,” means “Cape Sata” in English. Work on this... Continue Reading →
July 18, 1931 The Matson Navigation Company ocean liner SS Mariposa was launched at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. (That facility served as part of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s shipbuilding division.) Mariposa was built for service on a Pacific Ocean route between San Francisco, California, and Sydney, Australia. This ship was the largest passenger... Continue Reading →
May 30, 1914 The Cunard Line ship RMS Aquitania, in her maiden voyage, left Liverpool, England, for New York. In doing so, Aquitania joined the RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania as Cunard Line’s “grand trio” of express ocean liners providing regular transatlantic service. Aquitania would be nicknamed “Ship Beautiful” due to her reputation as one... Continue Reading →
As a longtime businessman and civic leader in the city of Portland in Oregon, Bill Naito became a strong champion of public transportation initiatives in that part of the world. He was born in Portland on September 16, 1925, to Hide and Fukiye Naito, who had immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1912.... Continue Reading →
May 16, 1961 Automotive manufacturer Richard J. Corbitt died in Henderson, North Carolina, at the age of 88. Corbitt had first established residence in that community in 1894, and he entered the transportation business five years later with the launch of the Corbitt Buggy Company. For several years, this company built horse-drawn buggies for hauling agricultural... Continue Reading →
May 9, 1896 The Nord Express (Northern Express) train service was introduced by the Belgian company Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL). This train transported passengers from Paris, France, to Saint Petersburg, Russia, traveling between those two points via the cities of Brussels, Cologne, Hanover, Berlin, Konigsberg (present-day Kalingrad), and Dvinsk (now known as Daugavpils). Following World War... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 