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On This Day in Automotive History: August 1

On This Day in Automotive History
August 1

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Birthdays: Raymond Mays (1899), Eddie Pagan (1918), Bobby Isaac (1932), Jerry Holden (1935), Jerry Sisco (1941), Ren Reugebrink (1944), John Michalowski (1947), Bob Keselowski (1951), Guy Martinolle (1951), Al Rudd Jr. (1953), Doug Hurst (1956), Ronald Kooker (1956), Doug McCoun (1957), Paul Daniels (1958), John Gaunt (1959), Sonny Gupta (1959), Ronnie Newman (1960), Allen Berg (1961), Jack Greenwood (1962), Michel Ligonnet (1962), Alan Chapman (1963), Kurt Hough (1965), Akira Fujita (1968), Rodin Younessi (1969), Les Hinckley III (1973), Ronnie Hornaday (1979), Andreas Kuchelbacher (1979), Travis Sauter (1982), R.J. Beshore (1984), Marco Mapelli (1987), Erin Schlough (1987)

1921: Pep Auto Supplies is founded. The company would eventually be known as Pep Boys.

1945: AASHO concurs in the initial "Design Standards for the National System of Interstate Highways," designed to "set the values or controls, the use of which is intended to produce highway facilities that represent the best practice in the light of present knowledge." The standards accommodate the 30th highest hourly traffic density and, in most but not all cases, require access control, separation at rail crossings, and elimination of cross traffic at grade. The standards were developed by AASHO Special Committee on Planning and Design Policies during a June meeting in Washington, DC.

1956: With Commissioner Charles Curtiss looking on, Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks signs the apportionment document for $2.55 billion in FY 1958 funds authorized by the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act, the largest amount ever provided for roads to date. The first apportionment under the 1956 Act, totalling $1.125 billion, took place the day it was signed, June 29, 1956.

1965: In an interview with The New York Times, Robert O. Swain, president of the International Road Federation, says that his organization has joined with BPR in a $150,000 project to send 17 road experts to Europe, the Far East, and South America. "Despite great advances here, United States road builders are a long way from knowing everything there is to know about their art," commented Swain.

2000: The Brian Setzer Orchestra released their album Vavoom!, which included the song “’49 Mercury Blues.”

2005: Production of the Ford Fusion began.

2007: The I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses into the Mississippi River during the evening peak period. Thirteen people die and hundreds are injured. At the request of President George W. Bush, Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters is on the scene within hours of the collapse. She taps Administrator J. Richard Capka to manage a team of experts assigned to replace the bridge.

2007: National Car Rental assumed control of Vanguard Automotive Group.