By Michelle Dumas
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
The Canso Causeway (Scottish Gaelic: Cabhsair Chanso) is a 1,385 m (4,544 ft) rock-fill causeway crossing the Strait of Canso, connecting Cape Breton Island by road to the Nova Scotia peninsula. Its crest thickness is 40 m (130 ft), carrying the two vehicle traffic lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway, Nova Scotia Highway 104 on the mainland side, and Nova Scotia Highway 105 on the Cape Breton side, as well as the single track mainline of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway.
The causeway opened in 1955 after three years of construction. Constructed in an “S” shape, it has a base width of 244 m (801 ft) in waters having a maximum depth of 65 m (213 ft).
Cape Breton Island remains circumnavigable as a result of the 24 m (79 ft) wide and 570 m (1,870 ft) long Canso Canal, which is located at the eastern end of the causeway to allow ship traffic to transit the Strait of Canso. The 94 m (308 ft) Canso Canal Bridge is a swing bridge which carries the road and railway line across the canal.
The word “Canso” is believed to be derived from the Mi’kmaq word kamsok, which means “opposite the lofty cliffs.”
On July 2, 2014, it was announced that the Government of Canada would transfer ownership of the causeway to the Nova Scotia provincial government. The federal government will still maintain the Canso Canal and the navigational locks.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- William Caxton (printer) –
- Lucy Stone (women’s rights activist) –
- Goldwin Smith (historian & journalist) –
- Annie Oakley (sharpshooter) –
- Alfred Hitchcock (filmmaker) –
- Sir Basil Spence (architect) –
- Fidel Castro (politician) –
- Don Ho (musician) –
- John Slattery (actor) –
- Debi Mazar (actress) –
Died
- Eugene Delacroix (painter) –
- Florence Nightingale (pioneer of modern nursing) –
- Herbert George [“H. G.”] Wells (English writer) –
- Mickey Mantle (baseball player) –
- Julia Child (chef and author) –
- Sandy Allen (world’s tallest woman, 7 foot, 7 inches tall) –
- Les Paul (guitar pioneer) –
- Johnny Pesky (baseball player) –
Events
- Canada first used to indicate region–
- Oregon Institute (later named Willamette University) opened in Salem, Oregon–
- Andrew Campbell discovered the Luray Caverns in Virginia, when cold air from a sinkhole on a large hill extinguished his candle–
- Last spike driven for first stage of Esquimalt-Nanaimo Railway in Cliffside, B.C.–
- Samuel Leeds Allen granted patent for Flexible Flyer sled–
- L’il Abner comic strip debuted–
- The Walt Disney classic, Bambi, opened this day at Radio City Music Hall in New York City–
- Canso Causeway, linking Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, opened–
- A plane flew into a hurricane for the first series of bumpy flights for the National Hurricane Research Project, then part of the U.S. Weather Bureau–
- The East German government closed the border between east and west sectors of Berlin with barbed wire fencing to discourage further population movement to the west. Later in the week a concrete wall was erected to strengthen the barrier between official crossing points–
- 3-year-old Jamie Gavin became the youngest heart/lung transplant patient–
- American swimmer Michael Phelps won his 10th and 11th Olympic gold medals making him the most decorated Olympian in history–
Weather
- Blue sun observed widely in the South, thought to presage Nat Turner slave uprising: phenomenon continued for several days–
- Hurricane Connie hit the North Carolina coast with winds up to 87 miles per hour–
- Four people were injured when lightning hit and shattered a utility pole in Belmont, New Hampshire–
- Nine people were injured after a lightning strike at a day camp in Pelham, New Hampshire–
- A small tornado hit Meredith, New Hampshire–
- Hurricane Charley struck Florida–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
