Comments on: Top 10 Fascinating Firsts in Motoring

By: Forget about safety helmets – let’s get back to the days of red warning flags « Alf Grumble

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:34:54 +0000

[...] is reminded that – The first death by motoring happened on August 17, 1896, at the Crystal Palace, London, when [...]

By: gazza

gazza — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:26:30 +0000

da henry ford model t should hav got a lot more praise i tink it was a very important role in motoring these days !

By: InfeaNO

InfeaNO — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:34:33 +0000

hurtling toward her at the speed of 4 mph

I wonder how someone from back then would react to mordren traffic? Some sections of the German Autobahns have no speed limits

By: timmy the dying boy

timmy the dying boy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:10:37 +0000

Here’s what I want to know: when was the first repo?

By: Os 9 fatos mais fascinantes do início dos automóveis | HypeScience

Os 9 fatos mais fascinantes do início dos automóveis | HypeScience — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:06:37 +0000

[...] [Listverse] [...]

By: Favorieten en bookmarks voor 18 July tot 19 July | Cafe del Marketing

Favorieten en bookmarks voor 18 July tot 19 July | Cafe del Marketing — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:01:42 +0000

[...] Top 10 Fascinating Firsts in Motoring – [...]

By: Spanner in the works

Spanner in the works — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:45:22 +0000

Apropos,

I hope I’m right in interpreting the prohibition of cap. locs as to prevent people highlighting their emotional abuse rather than emphasising, heading or drawing attention in a reasonable fashion.

By: Spanner in the works

Spanner in the works — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:41:21 +0000

astraya,

Yes, that was my point. People had to go and seek out early aerial activity, which was always fairly remote from centres of population.

However, there is at least one exception, which probably ought to be in Fascinating Firsts of Flight! Balloons saw active service in the American Civil War, in 1861, when the Union side fielded a balloon corp for artillery spotting, a military service branch that would continue up to the end of WW1. That is not the exception, however. A decade later, during the siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War, 66 manned balloons, largely built there and then, lifted out of the city between September 1870 and January 1971. “102 passengers escaped from the encircled city and three million letters were carried. A return-service of micro-filmed letters was carried back by pigeons taken out in the balloons.” “Only six fell within the Prussian lines.” As I know from personal experience, wartime conditions accustom humans very rapidly to the most remarkable of circumstances.

By: astraya

astraya — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:10:25 +0000

Spanner: re reactions to balloons and aeroplanes -
I haven’t ever read about reactions. I guess most of the people involved in the pioneering efforts in that direction were the inventors and those closely related to them, or volunteers. Also, most efforts in flight took place out of built-up areas, where those not directly related to them didn’t have to encounter them. Compare this to bicycles, cars and escalators, which were right there.
Also, also, humans had been dreaming about flying for centuries if not millennia.
Some people still get scared, though. The previous city I lived in in Korea hosted a balloon festival. Two tethered balloons ascended about 30 metres. One group included a boy about 4 or 5. When he got back down he was HOWLING!!!! (Yes, I know it says no caps lock, but that is the only way to represent it.)

By: SarahJ

SarahJ — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:10:22 +0000

This list is great!! It stands out as truly different!