Transport
Discover facts about transport. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Transport
Official bulletproof Popemobiles used by the leader of the Catholic Church are strictly electronically limited to a maximum speed of just under forty miles per hour.
Official bulletproof Popemobiles used by the leader of the Catholic Church are strictly electronically limited to a maximum speed of just under forty miles…
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Early American locomotive promoters in 1830 decided to prove the superiority of steam technology by racing their famous Tom Thumb train against a literal horse on parallel tracks.
Early American locomotive promoters in 1830 decided to prove the superiority of steam technology by racing their famous Tom Thumb train against a literal…
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Soviet engineers in the Cold War era powered their remote coastal lighthouses and navigation beacons using unsecured radioisotope thermoelectric generators, effectively creating…
Soviet engineers in the Cold War era powered their remote coastal lighthouses and navigation beacons using unsecured radioisotope thermoelectric generators,…
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San Francisco went through a bizarre, localized crime wave in the early 2010s where gangs of vandals started physically lifting and tipping over parked Smart cars in the middle of the night.
San Francisco went through a bizarre, localized crime wave in the early 2010s where gangs of vandals started physically lifting and tipping over parked Smart…
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Commercial Boeing 747 aircraft consume roughly one gallon of jet fuel every single second during a standard cruising altitude flight.
Commercial Boeing 747 aircraft consume roughly one gallon of jet fuel every single second during a standard cruising altitude flight. Over the course of a…
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John Patrick Bowman successfully popularized the modern system of matching baggage tags to passenger tickets in the nineteenth century, completely revolutionizing how the railway industry handled lost luggage.
John Patrick Bowman successfully popularized the modern system of matching baggage tags to passenger tickets in the nineteenth century, completely…
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Pope John Paul II was officially gifted the four-hundredth Ferrari Enzo ever built, making the leader of the Catholic Church the proud owner of an extremely aggressive Italian supercar.
Pope John Paul II was officially gifted the four-hundredth Ferrari Enzo ever built, making the leader of the Catholic Church the proud owner of an extremely…
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Commuter trains literally created the modern concept of commuting in the 1840s when railways started offering deeply discounted fares for passengers who bought tickets on a regular basis.
Commuter trains literally created the modern concept of commuting in the 1840s when railways started offering deeply discounted fares for passengers who…
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Ford Pinto engineers notoriously placed the fuel tank directly behind the rear axle in the 1970s, turning the highly popular compact car into an explosive death trap if it got rear-ended at a moderate speed.
Ford Pinto engineers notoriously placed the fuel tank directly behind the rear axle in the 1970s, turning the highly popular compact car into an explosive…
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Automotive safety engineers used actual human cadavers as the very first crash test dummies in the 1930s, tossing lifeless bodies down elevator shafts and crashing them into walls to study blunt force trauma.
Automotive safety engineers used actual human cadavers as the very first crash test dummies in the 1930s, tossing lifeless bodies down elevator shafts and…
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Pogo sticks were officially patented in 1920 by two German inventors named Max Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall, who combined the first two letters of their last names to brand their weird spring-loaded jumping pole.
Pogo sticks were officially patented in 1920 by two German inventors named Max Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall, who combined the first two letters of their last…
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Roller skates were introduced to the public in 1760 by an eccentric Belgian inventor named John Joseph Merlin, who decided to debut his creation by dramatically rolling into a…
Roller skates were introduced to the public in 1760 by an eccentric Belgian inventor named John Joseph Merlin, who decided to debut his creation by…
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Ferruccio Lamborghini originally built his massive fortune manufacturing tractors from leftover military hardware after the Second World War.
Ferruccio Lamborghini originally built his massive fortune manufacturing tractors from leftover military hardware after the Second World War. He only decided…
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Automobile horns manufactured in the United States and Europe are overwhelmingly tuned to the key of F, specifically F or F-sharp, because traffic psychologists discovered that…
Automobile horns manufactured in the United States and Europe are overwhelmingly tuned to the key of F, specifically F or F-sharp, because traffic…
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Airlines specifically choose to paint the vast majority of their passenger planes bright white because the color reflects sunlight, which significantly reduces the time and energy needed to cool the cabin on the tarmac.
Airlines specifically choose to paint the vast majority of their passenger planes bright white because the color reflects sunlight, which significantly…
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British traffic laws mandating that citizens drive their vehicles on the left side of the road are not just an arbitrary quirk, but a direct cultural hangover from the violent paranoia of the feudal medieval era.
British traffic laws mandating that citizens drive their vehicles on the left side of the road are not just an arbitrary quirk, but a direct cultural hangover…
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Professional cyclists competing in the grueling early days of the Tour de France would routinely chain-smoke cigarettes and drink copious amounts of wine while actively pedaling up treacherous alpine mountain passes.
Professional cyclists competing in the grueling early days of the Tour de France would routinely chain-smoke cigarettes and drink copious amounts of wine…
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Russian railway engineers intentionally designed their national train tracks to be significantly wider than the standard gauge used by almost every other country in Western Europe.
Russian railway engineers intentionally designed their national train tracks to be significantly wider than the standard gauge used by almost every other…
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Modern life-saving civilian ambulance services trace their surprising historical origins back to Napoleon Bonaparte's chief surgeon, who was incredibly frustrated by watching…
Modern life-saving civilian ambulance services trace their surprising historical origins back to Napoleon Bonaparte's chief surgeon, who was incredibly…
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Vibrantly decorated transit vehicles known affectionately as 'chicken buses' are the primary mode of intercity public transportation across much of Central America, despite…
Vibrantly decorated transit vehicles known affectionately as 'chicken buses' are the primary mode of intercity public transportation across much of Central…
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Bell Rocket Belt was a functional hydrogen peroxide jetpack developed in the 1960s that allowed humans to finally achieve the sci-fi dream of personal unassisted flight.
Bell Rocket Belt was a functional hydrogen peroxide jetpack developed in the 1960s that allowed humans to finally achieve the sci-fi dream of personal…
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United States Navy submarine USS Nautilus achieved a legendary milestone in 1958 by becoming the very first watercraft to successfully transit directly across the North Pole…
United States Navy submarine USS Nautilus achieved a legendary milestone in 1958 by becoming the very first watercraft to successfully transit directly across…
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South American drug cartels privately fund and construct fully functional fiberglass submarines deep within the jungle canopy to transport tons of illicit narcotics across the ocean completely undetected by naval radar.
South American drug cartels privately fund and construct fully functional fiberglass submarines deep within the jungle canopy to transport tons of illicit…
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Eurotunnel construction crews intentionally buried several massive tunnel boring machines directly beneath the English Channel rather than spending the time and money to extract them back to the surface.
Eurotunnel construction crews intentionally buried several massive tunnel boring machines directly beneath the English Channel rather than spending the time…
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