The Crittenden Automotive Library

On This Day in Automotive History: January 21

On This Day in Automotive History
January 21

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Birthdays: De Lloyd Thompson (1887), Charles Tramison (1904), Jud Larson (1923), Bud Harless (1924), John Campbell-Jones (1930), Ralph Nason (1940), Mark Konig (1941), Mike Kempton (1947), Stan Yingling (1953), Gary Manlow (1954), Bugs Hairfield (1961), Chris Everette (1962), Miroslav Konopka (1962), Jun-San Chen (1963), Anthony Hill (1963), Daniel Graeff (1966), Brad Loney (1968), Christian Pescatori (1971), Alex Sperafico (1974), Yuji Ide (1975), David Besnard (1977), Travis Bennett (1979), Julien Jousse (1986), Nick Murgic (1991), Eric Filgueiras (1994), Andrew Watson (1995), Brad Perez (1997), Aaron Cameron (2000)

1862: Opel was founded as a sewing maching manufacturer.

1897: In an address to the State Board of Agriculture in Augusta, ME, General Roy Stone discusses the history of road building in the U.S., the role of farmers in the Good Roads movement, the cost of bad roads versus good roads, and the value of convict labor.

1903: Director Martin Dodge participates in the Arkansas Good Roads Convention (January 21-22), delivering a speech on "Federal and State Aid to Roads." Over 1,200 delegates attend, voting to change the name of the "Good Roads League of the State of Arkansas" to the "Arkansas Good Roads Association," with a permanent office in Little Rock. A report in Good Roads Magazine describes Dodge as "the bright particular star of the gathering, and his presence did much to inspire the delegates with greater enthusiasm for the work."

1915: A Joint Congressional Committee established by the Post Office Appropriation Act for FY 1913 issues its final report on Federal-aid in construction of post roads. The committee agreed unanimously on the need and constitutionality of Federal-aid, but not on any special policy or how much should be granted. The report notes that, "permanent highways will result in very considerable adoption of auto-truck hauling in preference to rail transportation where the distance is within a half day's run."

1943: Commissioner Thomas MacDonald addresses the American Society of Civil Engineers' Annual Meeting in New York City on the "Proposed Interregional Highway System as it Affects Cities": "If the interregional highway system is to be truly effective for the uses for which it is designed, it must be conceived only after a careful and complete functional study of the city organism."

1959: At AASHO's annual meeting in Dallas, Texas, Federal Highway Administrator Bertram Tallamy presents the George S. Bartlett Award to Chief Engineer Rex Whitton of the Missouri State Highway Commission. Tallamy says, "There is none of us whose heart is not full of agreement and genuine joy as we meet to honor one among us who is universally loved and respected by those who have known him longest and best. To have that said by one's fellows is life's highest accolade."

1981: Production begins on the DeLorean DMC-12.

2003: The song “I Drove All Night” by Celine Dion was released.

2013: The Hennessey Venom GT set a Guinness World Record for the fastest road legal car from 0–186 mph (0–300 km/h) with an average acceleration time of 13.63 seconds. In addition, the car set an unofficial record for 0–200 mph (0–322 km/h) acceleration at 14.51 seconds, beating the Koenigsegg Agera R's time of 17.68 seconds, making it the unofficial fastest accelerating road legal car in the world.

2014: Fiat announced that with the purchase of the remainder of Chrysler LLC, the two companies would be reorganized as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

On This Day in Automotive History: January 21