June 1, 1889: The Orient Express

June 1, 1889: The most famous train route in human history, the Orient Express, begins full operations.

Well, not quite full. It opened on June 4, 1883, going from Paris, France to Vienna, Austria. Nobody would confuse Vienna with the Orient, not even if Mozart had written The Mikado 100 years before Gilbert & Sullivan had.

Gare de l'Est, Paris, opened in 1849

On October 3, 1883, the route was extended to Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. In 1923, the Ottoman Empire became the Turkish Republic, "Türkiye" in their native language, "Turkey" in English; and the capital was moved to Ankara. In 1929, the national government told the world to start calling Constantinople "Istanbul."

Still, it wasn't a single train. The original trip required passengers to disembark in Romania, to be ferried across the Danube to Bulgaria, where they would catch another train to the Bulgarian city of Varna, followed by a 150-mile ferry ride to Constantinople. The final leg of the train ride to Constantinople wasn't finished until 1885. Finally, on June 1, 1889, a single train left Gare de l'Est (Station of the East) in Paris for Sirkeci Railway Station in what became Istanbul.

Sirkeci Station, Istanbul, opened in 1872

Connections were made from Paris to London via Calais and a ferry across the English Channel to Dover. The main route went from Paris to Lausanne, Switzerland; to Milan and Venice, Italy; to Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now in Serbia); to Sofia, Bulgaria; to Istanbul -- and, on the way back, in reverse. An average Paris-to-Istanbul, or Istanbul-to-Paris, ride took nearly 3 days: 2 days, 20 hours of what the standards of the time considered exceptional luxury.

There were alternate routes, from Paris through Strasbourg (France), Munich, Vienna, Budapest (Hungary) and Bucharest (Romania) to Istanbul; and from Paris through Zurich (Switzerland), Innsbruck (Austria) to Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Istanbul. All routes were shut down during the World Wars.

The ride became popular among writers. Agatha Christie's most famous story remains the 1934 Murder On the Orient Express, in which the train, heading for Paris, gets stuck in the snow in Yugoslavia, and Hercule Poirot must solve a murder. Other fictional characters known to have ridden the famed luxury train include Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, and James Bond in From Russia with Love.

But, as in America, rail travel in Europe became superseded by air travel. The route stopped serving Istanbul in 1977, cut back to a through overnight service from Paris to Bucharest, which was cut back further in 1991 to Budapest, then in 2001 to Vienna, before departing for the last time from Paris on June 8, 2007. After this, the route, still called the Orient Express, was shortened to start from Strasbourg, leaving daily after the arrival of a TGV from Paris. On December 14, 2009, the Orient Express ceased to operate entirely, and the route disappeared from European railway timetables.

UPDATE: In late 2022, the hospitality company Accor announced plans to launch its own Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul, to start in mid-2026.

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June 1, 1889 was a Saturday. There were 6 games that day in what would eventually be called Major League Baseball:

* In the National League, the New York Giants lost to the Washington Nationals, 9-5 at the Swampoodle Grounds in Washington. This version of the Nationals were dropped from the NL after the 1899 season, and the current team with the name has no connection to it.

* Also in the NL, the Boston Beaneaters beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 at the South End Grounds in Boston.

* In the American Association, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-4 at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. These Athletics went out of business after the "Players' League War" of 1890. The Reds were admitted to the NL in 1892.

* Also in the AA, there was a doubleheader at Oriole Park in Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles won the opener, 5-4. The Kansas City Cowboys won the nightcap, 10-8. The Orioles were admitted to the NL in 1892, but dropped after 1899, and the current team with the name has no connection to it.

* And, also in the AA, the Columbus Solons beat the Louisville Colonels, 8-3 at Recreation Park in Columbus, Ohio. The Colonels were admitted to the NL in 1890, but were dropped after the 1899 season. The Solons folded with the AA after the 1891 season.