Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Greek myths featured an airborne sun chariot
Before humanity understood planetary orbits, the Greeks rationalized the sunrise by assuming a remarkably handsome deity was dragging the sun across the sky…
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Why oxen beat horses at the hardest work
They won't win any races against horses, but an ox will happily drag a massive wooden cart through knee-deep mud without breaking a sweat. They are the…
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Why popes were carried instead of walking
Before the armored popemobile, the pontiff was hauled around on a silk-covered throne by twelve men in red uniforms. Nothing screams humility of the church…
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Ancient royal chariots possessed zero lateral stability
Taking a sharp corner in a lightweight wooden cart pulled by panicked animals is a terrible idea. Wealthy nobles often found themselves face-planted in the…
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The lifelong bond between a mahout and an elephant
Controlling a four-ton beast with a stick and verbal commands requires absolute trust. A mahout usually bonds with an elephant for its entire sixty-year…
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Why sleighs needed bells to warn pedestrians
Those festive jingles weren't created for holiday cheer. A horse-drawn sleigh gliding over fresh snow makes almost zero noise, so bells were legally required…
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When hunting dogs pulled carts
Wealthy estates in the nineteenth century often hooked up a team of pointers or setters to small wooden gigs. It was supposedly an efficient way to get around…
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When trains dumped sewage straight onto the tracks
Ah, the romance of classic rail travel: fine dining, scenic landscapes, and spraying human waste across the countryside at sixty miles per hour. For over a…
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The deepest dive found a plastic shopping bag
Humanity built an engineering marvel capable of diving seven miles into the pitch-black abyss just to discover our own trash waiting for us. In 2019, an…
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Apollo 10 still holds the manned speed record
The ultimate speeding ticket still awaits the crew of Apollo 10, proving humanity only builds rockets to see how incredibly fast we can run away from our own…
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Canada's polar-bear license plates are shaped like bears
Because standard rectangles are incredibly boring when you live in a frozen wasteland patrolled by actual apex predators. Since 1970, this delightfully…
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Why UPS drivers avoid left turns
If you ever wondered why your delivery driver is taking the most convoluted zigzag route through your neighborhood, blame corporate math. Waiting for oncoming…
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Nuclear submarines deliberately have absolutely no windows to prevent structural collapse under pressure
If you suffer from claustrophobia, living inside a sealed titanium tube miles beneath the crushing ocean surface might not be your ideal career. Submarines…
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The street so steep it needed concrete
Asphalt on this 35-degree incline would literally melt and slide down the hill on a hot summer day, taking the neighborhood's cars with it. The street is so…
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Automobile key fobs can actually have their wireless range significantly extended if you hold the remote directly against your skull while pressing the unlock button.
Automobile key fobs can actually have their wireless range significantly extended if you hold the remote directly against your skull while pressing the unlock…
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Soviet cosmonauts did not actually just use cheap graphite pencils in space while NASA foolishly spent millions of dollars inventing a zero-gravity ink pen.
Soviet cosmonauts did not actually just use cheap graphite pencils in space while NASA foolishly spent millions of dollars inventing a zero-gravity ink pen.…
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King Philip II of Spain utilized one of the first recorded dedicated wheelchairs in 1595, which was essentially an immensely heavy wooden throne outfitted with tiny wheels and armrests.
King Philip II of Spain utilized one of the first recorded dedicated wheelchairs in 1595, which was essentially an immensely heavy wooden throne outfitted…
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Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the first commercial snowmobile in 1937 after his young son tragically died because a massive blizzard prevented the family from reaching the local hospital in time.
Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the first commercial snowmobile in 1937 after his young son tragically died because a massive blizzard prevented the family…
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Richard Trevithick built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive in 1804, and on its maiden voyage, it successfully hauled ten tons of iron and seventy men down the track.
Richard Trevithick built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive in 1804, and on its maiden voyage, it successfully hauled ten tons of iron and…
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Gottlieb Daimler built the world's first motorized taxi in 1897, featuring an incredibly terrifying contraption called the 'taxi-meter' to calculate the fare based on distance and time.
Gottlieb Daimler built the world's first motorized taxi in 1897, featuring an incredibly terrifying contraption called the 'taxi-meter' to calculate the fare…
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Paul Cornu achieved the first manned free flight in a rotary-wing aircraft in 1907, managing to lift his incredibly dangerous twin-rotor machine about one foot off the ground for twenty seconds.
Paul Cornu achieved the first manned free flight in a rotary-wing aircraft in 1907, managing to lift his incredibly dangerous twin-rotor machine about one…
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Brennan's Gyro-Monorail was an experimental transport vehicle developed in 1903 that balanced entirely on a single rail using two massive gyroscopes spinning at three thousand revolutions per minute.
Brennan's Gyro-Monorail was an experimental transport vehicle developed in 1903 that balanced entirely on a single rail using two massive gyroscopes spinning…
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Ploshchad Revolyutsii is a famous subway station in Moscow featuring seventy-six bronze statues of Soviet heroes, including a border guard with a very good boy sitting right next to him.
Ploshchad Revolyutsii is a famous subway station in Moscow featuring seventy-six bronze statues of Soviet heroes, including a border guard with a very good…
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Ferdinand Magellan is historically credited with being the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a wooden sailing ship, even though he was famously hacked to death in the Philippines halfway through the journey.
Ferdinand Magellan is historically credited with being the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a wooden sailing ship, even though he was famously…
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