1922 | Transportation
Transportation
Journalist and globe circler "Nellie Bly" (Elizabeth Cochrane Seamon) dies of pneumonia at New York January 27 at age 54.
Philadelphia-born naval architect William Francis Gibbs, 35, and his brother Frederick win a contract to convert the former S.S. Vaterland into the 950-foot luxury liner S.S. Leviathan (see 1920). The vessel was used as a troop transport in the Great War, William travels to Hamburg to obtain the blueprints from her builders Blohm and Voss, the Germans demand $1 million, William has studied science and marine engineering at Harvard, he replies that he will make his own set of working plans from the ship itself, Gibbs Brothers Inc. will employ 100 to 150 draftsmen on the ship's reconfiguration, and the liner produced at Newport News, Virginia, will set a new standard of luxury for the transatlantic route (see 1923).
Australian aviator Sir Keith Macpherson Smith and his brother Ross begin preparations for a round-the-world flight in a Vickers pusher-amphibian plane (see 1919). Ross is killed at Brooklands, Surrey, April 13 at age 29 along with a mechanic while testing the aircraft; Keith gives up the project and goes into business at Sydney.
Quincy, Ill.-born engineer William Bushnell Stout, 42, builds the first all-metal U.S. airplane for the navy (see 1925).
Dutch aircraft designer A. H. G. Fokker emigrates to the United States and establishes the Fokker Aircraft Corp. of America at Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. (see 1912; 1916). Now 32, he also maintains a large aircraft plant in the Netherlands (see Juan Trippe, 1927).
Alameda, Calif.-born Army Air Corps Lieutenant James H. (Harold) Doolittle, 25, makes the first coast-to-coast flight in a single day in September, flying a DH4b 2,163 miles from Pablo Beach, Florida, to San Diego in 21 hours, 28 minutes' flying time.
Test pilot Lieut. Harold R. Harris, 25, U.S. Army, takes off in a Loening PW-2A from McCook Field October 20, experiences terrible vibration, cannot regain control, and bails out with a silk parachute over Dayton, Ohio, making the first emergency jump from an airplane without injury. Survivors of parachute jumps will form an informal "Caterpillar Club."
Automobile inventor George B. Selden dies at Rochester, N.Y., January 17 at age 75, never having sold a car.
Britain's Austin Co. introduces the Baby Austin (see 1905). Herbert Austin converted his plant to munitions work in 1914 and employed 22,000 workers. His son was killed in action early in 1915 while serving with the Royal Artillery in France; he himself was elected to the House of Commons in 1919 and will serve until 1924. His new car will gain worldwide popularity, rivaling the Ford, and Austins will continue to be produced until 1957 (see British Motors, 1952).
Jaguar Cars Ltd. has its beginnings at Blackpool, Lancashire, where local motorcycle enthusiast William Lyons, 20, goes into partnership with his 30-year-old neighbor William Walmsley to start the Swallow Sidecar Co. in Walmsley's garage with backing from their parents. The two-toned sidecar gains quick success, and the partners will soon start producing smartly styled saloon (sedan) coaches for other automakers (see 1936).
Henry Ford makes more than $264,000 per day; the Associated Press declares him a billionaire (Ford Motor Company has a 55 percent share of the U.S. auto market). Ford pays $12 million to acquire the 5-year-old Lincoln Motor Co. started by Cadillac founder Henry M. Leland, now 80. Ford puts his son Edsel, 28, in charge of Lincoln, and the young man hires coach builders to improve the design of the cars and make them more competitive with Cadillac (see Lincoln-Mercury, 1939).
Durant Motors, Inc., introduces the Star, a $348 motorcar built to compete with Ford's Model T, but Ford reduces the price of its Model T to stifle Durant's threat of competition (see 1921).
General Motors gives control of its Chevrolet division to Danish-born engineer William Knudsen, 43, who has left Ford. Using mass assembly methods and Du Pont paints in a variety of colors, Knudsen will soon overtake Ford's black Model T (see Model A, 1927).
The Model A Duesenberg introduced by Duesenberg Automobile and Motor Co. of Indianapolis is the first U.S. production motorcar with hydraulic brakes, the first with an overhead camshaft, and the first U.S. straight eight (see 1919). Ninety-two of the luxury cars are sold, a number that will rise to 140 next year.
Minnesota bus pioneer Carl Wickman sells his interests in Mesabi Transportation Co. for something over $60,000 and begins to buy out small bus lines between Duluth and Minneapolis (see 1914; 1926).