Taxi

A taxi (also called a taxicab or cab in the United States) is a motor car that is used for public transport. 

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Taxi was originally an abbreviation of ‘taximeter' (or taxametre), which was the name of the device indicating the fare due. 

Taxameter entered the English language in 1894; taxicab and taxi followed in 1907.

HISTORY

Gottlieb Daimler built the world's first gasoline-powered taximeter-cab called the Daimler Victoria. It was delivered to Friedrich Greiner, a Stuttgart entrepreneur who started the world's first motorized taxi company on June 16, 1897.

Daimler Victoria was the first gasoline-powered taxicab

London became the world's first city to host licensed taxicabs on December 6, 1897. They were black and yellow, and electric. These electric cabs were soon nicknamed 'Hummingbirds’ due to the idiosyncratic humming noise they made.

In 1899 taxi driver Jacob German was arrested for driving 12mph, 4 mph over the legal limit. He was pulled over by a police officer on a bicycle.

The first London taxi cabs with on-board meters began operating on February 22, 1907. They belonged to the General Motor Cab Co.

The first New York City cabs were initially imported from France by Harry N. Allen owner of the Allen-Kingston Motor Car Company. Outraged at being charged $5 dollars ($122 today) for a quarter mile horse and carriage trip, Allen decided to start his own taxi service in New York and charge not so-much per mile. They began running in the city streets on May 31, 1907. 

The first domestically produced yellow American Taxicabs were built in 1908. Albert Rockwell, owner of Bristol Engineering in Bristol, Connecticut introduced a cab having 15 horsepower engine. Legend has it that it was his wife's idea that the taxi should be tinted in a yellow color to maximize his vehicles' visibility.

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The British Government announced on February 13, 1917 that women could become taxi drivers.

Carmen Fasanella's remarkable career as a taxicab owner and driver in Princeton, New Jersey, is a testament to his dedication and longevity in the profession. Registering as a taxicab owner and driver in 1921, he retired on November 2, 1989, after 68 years and 243 days of service.

Dublin passed a local by-law on August 18, 1946 forbidding taxi drivers from sleeping on the roof of their cabs between the hours of 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM.. The local by-law was passed in response to a number of complaints from residents about taxi drivers sleeping on their cabs roofs. The by-law was eventually repealed in the 1970s. The reason for the repeal is not clear, but it may have been due to the fact that the by-law was no longer necessary or that it was seen as being too restrictive.

Actor Leonard Nimoy was a taxi driver before he got his start on Star Trek, and once gave John F Kennedy a cab ride during the 1956 presidential race when JFK was a potential Vice president candidate.

FUN TAXI FACTS

Under the UK Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, people with the plague may not travel in taxis or other public conveyances. Nor may people with other notifiable diseases such as anthrax, cholera, rabies or tuberculosis.

Jens Stoltenberg, who was Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013, once went incognito for an afternoon as a taxi-driver in Oslo. He explained this was because he wanted to "hear from real Norwegian voters and that taxis were one of the few places where people shared their true views."

The largest taxi fleet in the world is found in Mexico City. The city boasts a fleet of nearly 140,000, which offer one of the cheapest services around, with fares starting at just 55 cents.

Mexico City taxis

The Alaskan town of Bethel is the city with the most cabs per capital in the U.S., with 70 total taxi drivers—one for every 85 people.

The five most common first names of New York City taxi drivers are Md, Mohammad, Mohammed, Muhammad, and Mohamed. 

London black cabs are designed to be tall enough for a gentleman to sit in without the need to remove his top hat.

London taxicab drivers have to obtain something called "The Knowledge", an in depth understanding of London and it's streets, proven by a number of examinations. It's the world's most demanding training for taxi drivers.

One per cent of London taxi-drivers are women. 

Technically it is illegal to shout "Taxi!" to hail a taxi as it may distract the driver.

Source Daily Express