1948: A mile-long stretch of Exchange Street in Akron, Ohio, is the first in the United States to be paved with a rubber-asphalt compound.
Rubber was everywhere in postwar Akron. As the home of B.F. Goodrich, Goodyear, Firestone and General Tire, Akron called itself the “Rubber Capital of the World,” and the fortunes of the city [...]
Posts Tagged ‘automobiles’
Sept. 7, 1948: Where the Rubber Is the Road
September 7th, 2010 |
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Aug. 12, 1888: Road Trip! Berta Takes the Benz
August 12th, 2010 |
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1888: Berta Benz, wife of inventor Karl Benz, takes her husband’s car on the first documented road trip in an automobile.
The trip would also include the first road repairs, the first automotive marketing stunt, the first case of a wife borrowing her husband’s car without asking, and the first violation of intercity highway laws [...]
Attack of the L.A. Smog Archives
July 26th, 2010 |
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Los Angeles suffered its first big smog attack 67 years ago Monday. This selection of photographs from the vast collection of the UCLA Library gives you a glimpse — often hazy, sometimes wacky — of Southern California’s struggle against smog from the 1940s through the 1960s.
See also:
This Day [...]
July 26, 1943: L.A. Gets First Big Smog
July 26th, 2010 |
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1943: In the middle of World War II, Los Angeles residents believe the Japanese are attacking them with chemical warfare. A thick fog that makes people’s eyes sting and their noses run has taken hold of the city. Visibility is cut down to three city blocks.
See also:
Photo Gallery
Attack of the L.A. Smog Archives
As residents would [...]
July 16, 1965: Mont Blanc Tunnel Opens
July 16th, 2010 |
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1965: After 19 years of planning and construction, the Mont Blanc Tunnel officially opens. The new tunnel stretches 7 miles, linking the French town of Chamonix and the Italian town of Courmayeur. Buried 1.5 miles under the Alps’ highest peak, it becomes the world’s deepest road tunnel beneath rock and gains infamy after a deadly [...]
June 29, 1956: Ike Signs Interstate Highway Act
June 29th, 2010 |
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1956: Urged to ease congestion on America’s roads, and inspired by Germany’s use of autobahns for troop movement during World War II, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.
The new law poured $33 billion (about $265 billion in modern purchasing power) into overhauling the country’s roadways. Then-Secretary of Commerce Sinclair [...]
May 13, 1935: Enter the Parking Meter
May 13th, 2010 |
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1935: An entrepreneurial politician files a patent application for a device that will elicit curses and contempt from generations of motorists: the parking meter.
If it weren’t for Pearl Harbor, FDR might have called May 13 a day that will live in infamy. It was 75 years ago that Carl C. Magee of Oklahoma City [...]
April 5, 1998: Tamagotchi Distracts Driver, Kills Cyclist
April 5th, 2010 |
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1998: A driver in Marseilles, France is distracted by her Tamagotchi virtual pet. She plows into a group of cyclists, killing one and injuring another.
Tamagotchi, created by the Japanese toymaker Bandai in 1996, kicked off the “digital pet” craze. It was an egg-shaped electronic keychain with a tiny black-and-white LCD screen that played a simple, [...]
March 29, 1927: Fastest Slug in the World
March 29th, 2010 |
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1927: The Sunbeam 1000 HP, aka the Slug, was the first car to go faster than 200 mph, in Daytona Beach, Florida. The great Henry Segrave was at the wheel and set a new land-speed record of 203.79 miles per hour.
Although the car was best-known as the “1000 HP” car, it actually had closer to [...]
INSIDE MOBILE: Planes, Trains, Automobiles: Why Computers Should Be In Control
March 18th, 2010 |
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All planes, trains and automobiles should have substantially more technology than they do today. Plus, they should all be allowed to be taken over by a remote, approved agency in case of problems that would negatively affect the ability of the vehicle to reach its destination safely. Here, Knowledge Center mobile and wireless analyst J. Gerry Purdy explains why we should use networking of vehicles, remote robotics and device intelligence to prevent problems that would endanger passenger lives.
– In the renowned 1987 movie, quot;Planes, Trains amp; Automobiles, quot;
advertising exec Neal Page (Steve Martin) and shower ring salesman Del
Griffith (John Candy) are total strangers. Together, they use all three
forms of transportation in an effort to get home for Thanksgiving.
Things go aw…
Feb. 17, 1972: Beetle Outruns Model T
February 17th, 2010 |
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1972: Henry Ford finally gets beat. Volkswagen Beetle No. 15,007,034 rolls off the assembly line in Germany, surpassing Ford’s venerable Model T as the most highly produced car in history.
By the following year, total production was over 16 million. More than 21.5 million of the little cars would eventually be cranked out.
The Beetle got [...]
Jan. 22, 1950: Jury Acquits Tucker of Fraud
January 22nd, 2010 |
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1950: Along with seven business associates, Preston Tucker — founder and namesake of the Tucker Car Corporation and the creator of the ultramodern Tucker ’48 sedan — is found not guilty of 25 counts of mail fraud, five counts of violating SEC rules and a single count of conspiracy to defraud.
The company, however, would [...]
Jan. 21, 1911: All Roads Lead to Monte Carlo … Rally
January 21st, 2010 |
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1911: The first Monte Carlo Automobile Rally is held. Twenty-three cars starting out from 11 different locations around Europe eventually converge on the tiny Principality of Monaco.
The event, officially the Rallye Monte Carlo, was organized at the behest of Prince Albert I (great-grandfather of current Prince Albert II and grandfather of Prince Rainier III, [...]
Dec. 9, 1921: Get the Lead In … Gasoline
December 9th, 2009 |
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1921: Researchers find that adding a small amount of tetraethyl lead to gasoline eliminates engine knock. Generations of children and refinery workers will suffer from lead exposure.
Researcher Thomas Midgley was working for General Motors under the legendary Charles Kettering to develop a fuel additive that could silence the harmful “knock†in high-compression engines. Knocking occurs [...]
Dec. 4, 1996: GM Delivers EV1 Electric Car
December 4th, 2009 |
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1996: General Motors begins delivery of the EV1, an electric vehicle that is a technical triumph for the time. It generates passion-fueled controversy that still reverberates today.
The technological innovations of the EV1 went well beyond the battery pack, inverter and AC induction motor that propelled the car without using any gasoline. The lead-acid battery pack [...]
Dec. 1, 1942: Mandatory Gas Rationing, Lots of Whining
December 1st, 2009 |
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1942: Nearly a year after the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States fully into World War II, the Americans get around to imposing nationwide gasoline rationing.
A fuel shortage was not the problem. America had plenty of that. What it lacked was rubber. Both the Army and Navy were in desperate need [...]
Nov. 25, 1920: Gaston Chevrolet Dies in Race Crash
November 25th, 2009 |
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1920: Race driver Gaston Chevrolet dies in a track crash in a Los Angeles race. He’s the first of three famous brothers to suffer a tragic end.
Gaston was the kid brother of Louis Chevrolet, co-founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company, later part of General Motors. Louis and the middle brother, Arthur, were born in [...]
Nov. 2, 1895: Cars Can’t Get to First Gasoline Race
November 2nd, 2009 |
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1895: The first U.S. race for gasoline-powered cars has to be postponed. The vehicles couldn’t get to the starting line. Within the month, though, they’re going to make some history.
Racing started out when cars started out. The legend is that the first car race happened the first time one horseless carriage met another on the [...]
July 30, 1898: Car Ads Get Rolling
July 30th, 2009 |
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1898: The Winton Motor Carriage Company places a magazine advertisement cajoling readers to “dispense with a horse.” It’s the earliest known automobile ad.
Car advertisements are looked upon by most people as being about as enjoyable as buying a car from a used car salesman. You might think that advertising for a car is a 20th-century [...]
July 27, 1888: Electric Tricycle Jolts Proper Bostonians
July 27th, 2009 |
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1888: Philip W. Pratt demonstrates the very first American electric tricycle.
Pratt’s e-trike was built for him by Fred M. Kimball of, naturally, the Fred M. Kimball Company. Pratt took the editor of Modern Light and Heat for a spin around Winthrop Square (above) in Boston.
The vehicle’s 10 lead-acid cells pushed about 20 volts to [...]