Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Staten Island Ferry operators run a massive, heavily utilized fleet of passenger ships that shuttle nearly twenty-five million people across New York Harbor every single year for…
Staten Island Ferry operators run a massive, heavily utilized fleet of passenger ships that shuttle nearly twenty-five million people across New York Harbor…
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Ocean liners operating in the early twentieth century heavily competed to provide the most extravagant, utterly unnecessary luxury amenities possible for their elite, upper-class passengers.
Ocean liners operating in the early twentieth century heavily competed to provide the most extravagant, utterly unnecessary luxury amenities possible for…
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Speed limits were first enforced in the United Kingdom under the notoriously strict Locomotive Act of 1865, which capped the blindingly fast pace of early motorized vehicles at a…
Speed limits were first enforced in the United Kingdom under the notoriously strict Locomotive Act of 1865, which capped the blindingly fast pace of early…
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Motorcycles first entered the transportation scene as terrifying, steam-powered wooden bicycles, completely lacking the gasoline combustion engines that give modern choppers their signature, neighborhood-waking roar.
Motorcycles first entered the transportation scene as terrifying, steam-powered wooden bicycles, completely lacking the gasoline combustion engines that give…
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Airlines permanently retire the flight numbers of crashed airplanes in a superstitious effort to make passengers forget that hundreds of people died on that exact route.
Airlines permanently retire the flight numbers of crashed airplanes in a superstitious effort to make passengers forget that hundreds of people died on that…
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Ice cream trucks originally drove around neighborhoods blasting cheerful melodies from mechanical music boxes simply because the refrigeration units were too loud, and the music masked the obnoxious engine noise.
Ice cream trucks originally drove around neighborhoods blasting cheerful melodies from mechanical music boxes simply because the refrigeration units were too…
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Oklahoma City installed the world's first parking meter in 1935 as a desperate measure to stop downtown workers from abandoning their cars on the street all day long.
Oklahoma City installed the world's first parking meter in 1935 as a desperate measure to stop downtown workers from abandoning their cars on the street all…
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Tourists visiting the Greek island of Santorini used to exclusively rely on a massive fleet of overworked donkeys to haul their luggage up hundreds of steep, slippery cobblestone steps from the port.
Tourists visiting the Greek island of Santorini used to exclusively rely on a massive fleet of overworked donkeys to haul their luggage up hundreds of steep,…
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Wooden escalators were standard in the London Underground for decades until a devastating fire at King's Cross station in 1987 finally convinced management that moving wooden staircases were essentially giant matches.
Wooden escalators were standard in the London Underground for decades until a devastating fire at King's Cross station in 1987 finally convinced management…
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James A Garfield was desperately rushed to the New Jersey shore after being shot by an assassin in eighteen eighty-one, requiring engineers to frantically build an entirely new…
James A Garfield was desperately rushed to the New Jersey shore after being shot by an assassin in eighteen eighty-one, requiring engineers to frantically…
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Generations of Americans confidently repeat the massive urban legend that the interstate highway system was legally required to include one mile of perfectly straight road for…
Generations of Americans confidently repeat the massive urban legend that the interstate highway system was legally required to include one mile of perfectly…
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Military fighter jet ejection seats are powered by literal explosive rockets under the pilot's chair, saving their lives but almost guaranteeing they will end up a fraction of an inch shorter than they used to be.
Military fighter jet ejection seats are powered by literal explosive rockets under the pilot's chair, saving their lives but almost guaranteeing they will end…
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Sled dogs managed to deliver life-saving diphtheria antitoxin to the isolated town of Nome, Alaska, in the dead of winter in nineteen twenty-five because trains couldn't make it…
Sled dogs managed to deliver life-saving diphtheria antitoxin to the isolated town of Nome, Alaska, in the dead of winter in nineteen twenty-five because…
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Canada officially possesses the longest continuous highway in the entire world, stretching nearly five thousand miles from the jagged cliffs of Newfoundland all the way to the lush shores of British Columbia.
Canada officially possesses the longest continuous highway in the entire world, stretching nearly five thousand miles from the jagged cliffs of Newfoundland…
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Military officials in the United States imported over seventy camels from the Mediterranean and Middle East right before the Civil War to serve as elite pack animals for the army in the harsh southwestern deserts.
Military officials in the United States imported over seventy camels from the Mediterranean and Middle East right before the Civil War to serve as elite pack…
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Igor Sikorsky designed the first mass-produced helicopter but was deeply frustrated because he envisioned his marvelous flying machine as an instrument for rescuing people from…
Igor Sikorsky designed the first mass-produced helicopter but was deeply frustrated because he envisioned his marvelous flying machine as an instrument for…
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Autonomous vehicles are currently programmed to make highly complex moral decisions in a split second, such as calculating whether it is mathematically better to swerve and hit a…
Autonomous vehicles are currently programmed to make highly complex moral decisions in a split second, such as calculating whether it is mathematically better…
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Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev spent a total of 803 days in space over his career, meaning he actually time-traveled by a fraction of a second into the future due to the…
Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev spent a total of 803 days in space over his career, meaning he actually time-traveled by a fraction of a second into the…
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Canadian truck drivers routinely haul massive multi-ton loads across frozen lakes in the dead of winter, relying on ice roads that only exist for a few months out of the year…
Canadian truck drivers routinely haul massive multi-ton loads across frozen lakes in the dead of winter, relying on ice roads that only exist for a few months…
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New York City subway system operates twenty-four hours a day and features over six hundred miles of active track, making it one of the most complex public works in the world, as…
New York City subway system operates twenty-four hours a day and features over six hundred miles of active track, making it one of the most complex public…
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Commercial airplanes literally drop off radar screens while crossing large oceans because land-based radar systems simply cannot reach the middle of the Atlantic or Pacific,…
Commercial airplanes literally drop off radar screens while crossing large oceans because land-based radar systems simply cannot reach the middle of the…
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Airlines purposefully choose the most incredibly complex, dizzying, and downright ugly geometric patterns for the carpets on their airplanes to meticulously hide all the coffee…
Airlines purposefully choose the most incredibly complex, dizzying, and downright ugly geometric patterns for the carpets on their airplanes to meticulously…
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Cruise ships are legally required to have their colossal air horns tuned to very specific musical chords, typically in a low-frequency range so the deafening sound can carry for…
Cruise ships are legally required to have their colossal air horns tuned to very specific musical chords, typically in a low-frequency range so the deafening…
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Iconic red double-decker buses in London did not originate with modern combustion engines, but were originally massive wooden carriages violently dragged through the filthy…
Iconic red double-decker buses in London did not originate with modern combustion engines, but were originally massive wooden carriages violently dragged…
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