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On This Day in Automotive History: October 12

On This Day in Automotive History
October 12

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Birthdays: H.A. Devaux (1878), Joe Parkin (1888), Bob Wallace (1901), Piero Taruffi (1906), Roy Prosser (1915), Frank Armi (1918), Lou Figaro (1920), Ed Kostenuk (1925), Ernie Gahan (1926), Ernie Boost (1928), Paul Jett (1931), Nick Dioguardi (1932), Ned Jarrett (1932), Mike Salmon (1933), Darrell Dockery (1936), Paul Hawkins (1937), Anton Fischhaber (1940), Andre Gahinet (1941), Morgan Shepherd (1941), Jerry Miller (1942), Bertil Roos (1943), Christian Debias (1946), Bill Plemons Jr. (1947), Steve Lawrence (1953), Mark Dismore (1956), Neil Schembri (1956), Eddie Falk (1959), Danny Bagwell (1960), Michael Trunk (1960), Tim Brackett (1961), Lisa Jackson (1961), Carlos Bernard (1962), Mike Koch (1963), Gary Schultheis (1965), Chris Hart (1967), Bill Auberlen (1968), Michael Clifton (1968), Kenta Shimamura (1969), Tony Ponkauskus (1970), Nur Ali (1974), Dale Brede (1974), Maik Barten (1990), Kenzie Ruston (1991), Thiemo Storz (1991), Pipo Derani (1993), Dylan Martin (1997)

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 Bureau of Public Roads 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.

1959: At AASHO's annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, 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.

1962: Bureau of Public Roads 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 Bureau of Public Roads.

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.