October 12
| 1908 | Director Logan Page heads the United States delegation to the First International Road Congress, held in Paris, France. On October 15, he joins with the German, Italian, and Russian delegates to propose a permanent international organization, which became PIARC. | |
| 1956 |
Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks announces that President Dwight D. Eisenhower's choice for BPR Administrator is Bertram D. Tallamy and that John Volpe will serve as Administrator in the interim. Upon being sworn in on October 22, Volpe becomes the first Federal Highway Administrator and the President says that after working a long time on the Interstate program, he is "anxious for it to move into high gear." Tallamy, when he takes office on February 5, 1957, is the first Administrator confirmed by the Senate.
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| 1959 |
At AASHO's annual meeting in Boston, MA, Missouri's Chief Engineer, Rex Whitton, presents the Thomas H. MacDonald Award to AASHO Executive Secretary A. E. Johnson, formerly a highway official in Arkansas."I remember back in 1943 a conference with Mr. MacDonald [who] was telling me all about the big urban problem we were going to have in highway transportation . . . . Down at Little Rock we didn't know much about that . . . but I was very patient with him and listened. I didn't want to hurt his feelings. But I can look back and see the foresight and vision he had." |
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| 1962 | BPR participates in opening ceremonies for the Thatcher Ferry Bridge over the southern end of the Panama Canal. Regional Engineer Ralph P. Agnew, Regional Bridge Engineer R. Zuniga, and Panama Division Engineer H. L. Friel represent BPR. | |
| 1964 | James W. Jennings, Jr., totally blind since 1945, reports for duty as a highway engineer in the Structures and Applied Mechanics Division, Office of Research and Development. | |
| 1977 | FHWA issues national standards for permitting right-turns-on-red at traffic-signal controlled intersections on the Nation's highways and streets. The new standards provide for right-turns-on-red except when engineering studies dictate otherwise. Only two States (Connecticut and Massachusetts) and the District of Columbia prohibit the turns. |
