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John Dobbin, Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825

The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR), the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, first operated on 27 September 1825. It initially connected collieries near Shildon with Darlington and Stockton in County Durham, north-east England. The transport of coal proved profitable, and the line was soon extended to a new port at Middlesbrough. The opening of the S&DR was seen as proof of steam railway effectiveness. While coal was hauled by steam locomotives, horses drew passenger coaches along the rails until carriages hauled by locomotives were introduced in 1833. The S&DR suffered severe financial difficulties at the end of the 1840s but the discovery of iron ore in Cleveland led to an increase in revenue. At the beginning of the 1860s it took over railways that had crossed the Pennines, but was itself taken over by the North Eastern Railway, continuing to operate independently until 1876. Much of the original route is now served by the Tees Valley line. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Ships in the Night performing in 2025

... that the American electronic artist Ships In The Night (pictured) makes synthwave music with melodies inspired by bird songs, church bells, and trains?
... that Gerard Way played pornography while recording the vocals of "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" as a form of method acting?
... that Richard Nixon asked Jet Li to be his personal bodyguard during the 1974 China national wushu team's tour to the United States?
... that the regimental band of the British Central Africa Regiment were known as the "canary birds" because of their bright yellow pants?
... that Endah Subekti Kuntariningsih began her career in her current political party as a typist?
... that viewers complained over the reopening of a fictional pub in an episode of EastEnders as they felt that it looked "almost identical" to the original?
... that the Japanese considered enlisting Tekinaiti as an anti-British collaborator—until they discovered he had a Union Jack tattooed on his chest?
... that the 74th Street Generating Station's interior was once described as "an industrial-grade Grand Canyon"?
... that US Air Force pilot Alexander Kratz Rupp once kidnapped a goat?

In the news

Peter Mutharika

Peter Mutharika (pictured) is elected president of Malawi.
Typhoon Ragasa leaves at least 25 people dead in Taiwan and the Philippines.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign an agreement to defend each other against attacks.
American actor and filmmaker Robert Redford dies at the age of 89.
In boxing, Terence Crawford defeats Canelo Álvarez, becoming undisputed champion in his third weight class.

On this day

September 27: Meskel (Orthodox Tewahedo)

Flag of China

1422 – The Treaty of Melno was signed, establishing the Prussian–Lithuanian border, which afterwards remained unchanged for about 500 years.
1875 – The merchant ship Ellen Southard was wrecked in a storm at Liverpool, England; the U.S. Congress subsequently awarded 27 Gold Lifesaving Medals to the men who rescued her crew.
1940 – World War II: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan signed the Tripartite Pact in Berlin, officially forming a military alliance known as the Axis.
1949 – Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference unanimously selected Zeng Liansong's design for the flag of China (pictured).
2014 – Mount Ontake in central Japan unexpectedly erupted, killing 63 people in the nation's deadliest eruption in more than 100 years.

Guillaume Rondelet (b. 1507)
Ivan Goncharov (d. 1891)
Gwyneth Paltrow (b. 1972)
Madeleine Tchicaya (d. 2021)

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Today's featured picture

Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO₄·2H₂O. It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk chalk. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness defines gypsum as hardness value 2 based on scratch hardness comparison. Other forms of gypsum include the fine-grained, lightly-tinted alabaster, used for sculpture by many cultures in history, and the translucent crystals of selenite. This specimen of gypsum originates in Carresse-Cassaber, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.

Photograph credit: Didier Descouens

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