Wilbur and Orville Wright weren’t just lucky to make the first flight. They played with flying paper models in their youth, and by 1901 they had made hundreds of wind tunnel tests. In 1902, their glider was the biggest flying machine ever built. Orville Wright wrote, “We now hold all the records! The largest machine…the longest time in the air, the smallest angle of descent, and the highest wind!”
They called on the machine making skills of Charles E. Taylor, and by February 1903 they had an engine. By June, they had built a propeller. They headed for Kitty Hawk, North [more...]

When Ferdinand Magellan led the first circumnavigation of earth in the 16th century, his 5 ships were about 100 feet (33 metres) long each and reached 10 knots. Today, cruise liners exceed 1,000 ft (300m) in length and reach 30 knots.
The Queen Elizabeth was the longest cruise liner when she was launched in 1938, being 1,030 ft (314 metres) long (she was destroyed in a fire while being renovated in Hong Kong harbor in 1972). Other beauties in the big league include the Norway, at one stage the longest liner at 1,035 ft (315,5m). The Grand Princess, which cruises the [more...]

In 1897, Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek, traveled from his home in Nice, France to purchase a car from the Daimler factory in Cannstatt, Germany. On his return to the French Riviera, his sporting Daimler Phoenix caused such a sensation that he decided to enter it into a local touring competition, under the name of “Mercedes” after his favorite 9 year old daughter. Realizing the business potential for the new car, he not only placed an order for 36 more, but also secured the franchise for selling them in several countries. Gottlieb Daimler also agreed to having them sold under the [more...]

Traffic lights were used before the advent of the motorcar. In 1868, British railroad signal engineer J P Knight invented the first traffic light, a lantern with red and green signals. It was installed at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets in front of the the British House of Commons to control the flow of horse buggies and pedestrians.
Motorcars were introduced to the US in the late 1890s and the need for traffic control soon became obvious. A number of people came up with ideas for traffic control. In 1910, Earnest Sirrine of Chicago, Illinois filed for a patent [more...]

The amount of time that people spend on travel has been consistent at 1,1 hours per person per day in all societies. The average distance traveled is 7400 miles (12 000 km) per year. In total, the world population travels more than 16.6 trillion miles (23 trillion km) per year, 53% of which is by car, 26% by bus, 9% by rail, 9% by high-speed transport such as airplanes, and 3% by bicycle, boat and other means.
It is estimated that, due to developments in high-speed public transport, travel time will drop to only 12 minutes per person per day by [more...]