Category Archives: Transportation

Labor Day in Los Angeles, September 7, 1886

Posted on September 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

September, 7, 1886: The Times publishes a roundup of events marking  Labor Day, but there are no reports of any celebrations in Los Angeles. On the jump, Labor Day, 1891, is celebrated on the West Coast, but there’s nothing about Los Angeles. Continue reading →

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September 5, 1947: L.A. Turns 166, Becomes Third-Largest City in America

Posted on September 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 5, 1947: As Los Angeles celebrates its birthday, Mayor Fletcher Bowron says it’s now the third-largest city in the U.S., passing Detroit. Continue reading →

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September 5, 1943: Union Pleads With Streetcar Workers Not to Strike

Posted on September 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 5, 1943: The head of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen pleased with Pacific Electric workers not to strike. Eight to 10 streetcar workers are quitting every day to take better jobs. Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Streetcars, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on September 5, 1943: Union Pleads With Streetcar Workers Not to Strike

September 4, 1933: Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

Posted on September 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 4, 1933: A man fatally stabs his estranged wife and daughter, then slits his throat after an argument because his wife had the bedroom painted pink. Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Homicide, LAPD, Main Street, Nightclubs, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Suicide, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on September 4, 1933: Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

August 29, 1943: Parents Sue Doctor Who Said Baby Girl Was a Boy!

Posted on August 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 29, 1943: Dr. John M. Andrews is being sued for $500,000 by Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. Hartwig after delivering a baby and telling the family that it was a boy, whom they named Richard Allen Hartwig — when it was actually a girl. Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Medicine, Streetcars, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

August 27, 1903: 6,000 Union Army Veterans Gather to Recall the Campfires of Old

Posted on August 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 27, 2003: 6,000 Union Army veterans gather at Eastlake (Lincoln) Park in Los Angeles. And a minister endorses the lynching of Blacks. Continue reading →

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August 25, 1958: Jealous husband rams movie star’s car, Reds win over Dodgers

Posted on August 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 25, 1958: A jealous husband rams a car he thinks is carrying his wife (it’s not). The crash hits a car carrying Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Dean Martin and his wife. Leigh gets checked at a hospital because she’s pregnant with Jamie Leigh Curtis! Continue reading →

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August 11, 1941: Van Nuys Plane Crash Kills 2

Posted on August 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 11, 1941: Two men are killed when their plane goes into a spin during a flying lesson and crashes into a bean field. Plus Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Lee Shippey, Politics, San Fernando Valley, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on August 11, 1941: Van Nuys Plane Crash Kills 2

Aug. 10, 1947: North Broadway Tunnel, Doomed Downtown Landmark

Posted on August 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 10, 1947: The North Broadway Tunnel is doomed. Continue reading →

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L.A. Welcomes Harbor Freeway Extension With Four-Block Traffic Jam

Posted on August 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 8, 1953: If you build it, they will drive. New extension of Harbor Freeway results in four-block traffic jam. And a Marine deserter is killed by a liquor store owner during an attempted robbery. Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, African Americans, Comics, Film, Freeways, Hollywood, LAPD, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Welcomes Harbor Freeway Extension With Four-Block Traffic Jam

Found on EBay — Quiet Birdmen

Posted on July 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

In an encore post from 2009, a Quiet Birdmen belt buckle and other belongings of a QB member was listed on EBay. Continue reading →

Posted in Fashion, Science, Transportation | Comments Off on Found on EBay — Quiet Birdmen

July 30: 1907: Runaway Horse Races Down Broadway, Plows Into Hotel Lobby

Posted on July 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 30, 1907: A runaway horse hitched to a buggy outside Jevne’s grocery store at 6th and Broadway plows through a plate glass window at the Lankershim. Continue reading →

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13 Die When B-25 Hits Empire State Building, July 29, 1945

Posted on July 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 29, 1945: Newspaper coverage of a B-25 bomber hitting the Empire State Building. Continue reading →

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July 28, 1907: L.A. Seeks to Clear Books of Old Laws on Bear Baiting, Quail Hunting by Streetcar Conductors

Posted on July 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 28, 1907: Los Angeles seeks to rid itself of outdated laws like hunting rabbits on Spring Street or conductors abandoning their streetcars to go quail hunting at the end of the line. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Animals, City Hall, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on July 28, 1907: L.A. Seeks to Clear Books of Old Laws on Bear Baiting, Quail Hunting by Streetcar Conductors

July 23, 1907: A Belated Tribute to Heroic Officer

Posted on July 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

July 23, 1907: Police capture a burglar who entered a jewelry store through a skylight. Continue reading →

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July 22, 1947: TV, Jet Engine, Tucker Car on Display at World Inventors Expo

Posted on July 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

The Tucker is on display at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium as part of an inventors’ exposition. Continue reading →

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Nov. 15, 1981: Still Unsolved — Aspiring Screenwriter Killed in Hit-Run Staged to Look Like Rape

Posted on May 18, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This post has been getting a lot of traffic recently and I couldn’t figure out why. The answer:  A biking blog linked to the post a few days ago because Pat Hines, one of the victim’s friends, has been … Continue reading →

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Labor Day in Los Angeles, 1886

Posted on September 7, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Sept. 7, 1886: The Times publishes a roundup of events marking  Labor Day, but there are no reports of any celebrations in Los Angeles. On the jump, Labor Day, 1891, is celebrated … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 6, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 Warner Bros. picture “Other Men’s Women,” with Grant Withers, Mary Astor, Regis Toomey, James Cagney, Fred Kohler, J. Farrell MacDonald, Joan Blondell, Lillian Worth and Walter Long. By Maude Fulton, dialogue by William … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, City Hall, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 46 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Kiwanis Refuses to Give Lottery Winner a New Cadillac Because He’s Black

Posted on November 6, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2018 that is getting lots of interest on Reddit. This is a story that involves a $1 lottery ticket, a new Cadillac and an incredible amount of stupidity by members of an ostensibly … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment