A Brief History On December 28, 1795, construction began on Yonge Street in York, Upper Canada (modern day Toronto). Yonge Street went on to fame as “The longest street in the world” according to The Guinness Book of World Records at 1178 miles long, running from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and on to the Minnesota-Ontario border at Rainy River. Many other streets and roads across the world have achieved a measure of fame, and here we list 10 of those famous roadways. Is the list a little US of A centric? Yes, but that is to be expected with…
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A Brief History On June 27, 1985, US Route 66, known as “The Main Street of America,” was officially taken off the list of US highways. Established in 1926, it was the main road from Chicago to Los Angeles (Santa Monica). Spawning a hit song (by Nat “King” Cole) and a hit television series, this route was the American highway, at least until superseded by the Interstate Highway System. It survives (barely) today in pieces as “State Route 66” in some states and as stretches of a “National Scenic Byway.” Many other symbols of America have also come and gone, and…
A Brief History On Thursday, June 23, 2016, the voters in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) voted to leave the European Union, throwing the economies of the UK, Europe, Asia, and the United States into a tail spin. Voters were warned of grave consequences (travel inconvenience and economic) if they voted to leave, but the movement calling itself “Brexit” (Britain-Exit) successfully won the referendum to ditch Britain’s part in the EU. Digging Deeper US stocks fell sharply with the news, over 600 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Other markets around the world suffered more…
A Brief History On May 24, 1940, Igor Sikorsky, a Russian immigrant to the United States, performed the first successful single rotor helicopter flight without a tether. His invention, the Vought Sikorsky VS-300 was quickly developed into the R-4 “Hoverfly” 2 seat helicopter, the first commercially produced successful such aircraft and the first helicopter used by the United States military. Digging Deeper Sikorsky designed several successful aircraft while an American, including the famous S-42 “Clipper” flying boat, the original Pan Am Clipper. The aircraft company he founded in 1925, Sikorsky Aircraft Company, is still in business today, owned by Lockheed…
A Brief History On May 17, 1970, Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl’s boat made of reeds in the ancient way set sail across the Atlantic Ocean to prove people from North Africa could have reached the New World by boat. Digging Deeper Heyerdahl, born in 1914, was already famous for his 1947 voyage from South America to Polynesia on his balsa wood raft, Kon-Tiki, proving Native South Americans could have traveled to Polynesia, thus being the source for the population there. Making the nearly 5000 mile trip in 101 days, the Kon-Tiki voyage prompted other adventurers to replicate the voyage, and…
