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On This Day in Automotive History: December 31

On This Day in Automotive History
December 31

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Birthdays: Steve Nemesh (1896), Thomas Lechlider (1916), Jim Stout (1942), Jacques Boillat (1945), Neil Crang (1949), Noreen Mears (1949), Frederic da Rocha (1953), Philip Duffie (1953), Jim Field (1957), Kurt Mathewson (1958), Toney Jennings (1959), Stephen Beattie (1960), Jason Wattenbarger (1963), Dan Mathews (1964), Scott Kaiser (1969), Keith Lamell (1969), Tony Kanaan (1974), Andy Bell (1975), Grant Orbell (1977), Dale Prunty (1977), Alan Pinsonneault (1978), Danny Watts (1979), Brad Sweet (1985), Natalia Kowalska (1989), John Wes Townley (1989), Michelle Gatting (1993), Ryan Blaney (1993), Mikkel Jensen (1994), Jules Gounon (1994), Emily Packard (1996), Logan Sargeant (2000)

1932: The film The Racing Strain was released.

1959: After 11 years, the BPR Division Office in Ankara, Turkey, closes, having helped the government expand its network of all-weather roads from 12,140 km to 36,000 km. Division Engineer Fred J. Dixon received a letter from Director General Fevzi Atac, Turkish General Directorate of Highways, expressing appreciation for the Division's contributions to the development of Turkey's highways. In a report, Dixon notes that Turkey now has over 36,000 kilometers of all-weather highways and roads, compared with 12,140 kilometers when BPR began its work.

1970: The Federal-Aid Highway Act approved today by President Richard Nixon authorizes operation of the National Highway Institute, creates the FAU system and the Special Bridge Replacement Program, and includes measures dealing with environmental considerations, noise standards, and air quality. USDOT is called on to prepare and issue guidelines to ensure consideration of the social, economic, and environmental effects of proposed projects and that final decisions are made in the best overall public interest. The resulting guidelines, known as "Process Guidelines," are issued in September 1972.

1975: FHWA announces a $6-million Bikeway Demonstration Program, authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974, aimed at promoting bicycling as a viable surface transportation alternative. The funds, which may be used to construct bicycle facilities in urban areas, are intended to supplement funds already available for bicycle projects under the regular Federal-aid highway program. Administrator Norbert Tiemann says that, "Such projects, when implemented in large scale, will help to reduce problems of urban congestion, air and noise pollution, and energy consumption."

2019: Travis Kalanick resigns from Uber's Board of Directors.