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From airmail to email, the bay area has a rich communications history. From the Wikipedia page on Airmail: "Starting in 1903 the introduction of the airplane g
by adfm 9y ago
From airmail to email, the bay area has a rich communications history.
From the Wikipedia page on Airmail:
"Starting in 1903 the introduction of the airplane generated immediate interest in using them for mail transport. An unofficial airmail flight was conducted by Fred Wiseman, who carried three letters between Petaluma and Santa Rosa, California, on February 17, 1911.[5]
The world's first official airmail flight came the next day, at a large exhibition in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airmail https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airmail
- Gargoyle 9y agoHmm, with the TSA baggage check that probably took longer than riding a horse between the two towns.
- jcrawfordor 9y agoSan Francisco's position at almost the most extreme west point of the country has given it a lot of interesting distinctions in aviation history. Crissy Field, now a rather pleasant park just off the Presidio, was once an army airfield and the ending point of the first transcontinental flight completed in one day, dawn to dusk. There's a small plaque there commemorating the event. For many ears in the early 20th century it was a stopping point for air mail flights. A few of the buildings along there, now under NPS management, are old hangers from its previous use. Treasure Island also used to be a major seaplane airport, even after aviation use of the island itself ended (it had once been slated for the location of San Francisco International Airport, as a bit of trivia).
- s0rce 9y agoMost extreme west point is actually in Washington state (Cape Alava).
- astrodust 9y agoAlso the first trans-continental railroad originated in the area. A hundred years later the railroad tracks served as ideal right-of-ways to lay fiber-optic cable to create the modern internet.
- Gibbon1 9y agoA have a slightly fizzy memory of finding a recently installed run of fiber optic cable along the old transcontinental route. I think near the Chinese Wall.
- astrodust 9y agoTrains are actually an excellent platform for all the equipment necessary to run fiber. They can have not only the heavy trenching equipment, but the endless spools of fiber on hand as well. They literally drop a plow into the ground and lay the fiber in the resulting trench, then just drive the train forward to lay more cable. Very efficient if the route's planned out in advance. Some interesting examples: https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-fiber-optic-cable-laying-machine-work-How-does-it-lay-a-length-straight-cable-that-is-longer-than-the-angle-makes-it-capable-of-reaching https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-fiber-optic-cable-laying-ma...
- Gibbon1 9y agoReminds me of this beast http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2017/11/mow-jordan-spreader.html http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2017/11/mow-jordan-spr...