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On This Day in Automotive History: March 31

On This Day in Automotive History
March 31

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March 30 « Go to » April 1

Birthdays: Jim Boyd (1920), Jim Sills (1926), Pee Wee Jones (1928), Richard Jackson (1937), Pat Fay (1944), S.J. Evonsion (1945), Anders Olofsson (1952), Jeff Conkel (1955), Darrel Krentz (1955), Kevin Cogan (1956), Don LaDuke (1956), Mark Webber (1956), Dana White (1958), Jon Beekhuis (1960), Rick Heuser (1960), Tam Topham (1960), Jeff McDuffie (1962), David Quinlan (1963), Ken Weaver (1964), Scott Houston (1965), Jose Luis DiPalma (1966), Nick Firestone (1966), Rob Schirle (1967), Shaun Richardson (1968), Troy Miller (1971), Marc Brenner (1974), Roberto Gonzalez (1976), Garth Tander (1977), Nikos Zahos (1978), Cesar Campanico (1980), Danie Correia (1983), J.C. Umscheid (1983), Peter Dempsey (1986), Brandon Oltra (1986), Ryan Robertson (1986), Christian Malcharek (1991), D.J. VanderLey (1992), Anthony Alfredo (1999)

1951: The Plymouth Cranbrook Belevedere was introduced.

1953: "The Chief," Thomas H. MacDonald, retires after heading Bureau of Public Roads for 34 years (1919-1953). He had stayed beyond the mandatory retirement age of 70 with approval of the President. During testimony in April before the House Roads Subcommittee, Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks says, "There is nothing intended or implied, so far as I know . . . that in any way, shape or manner tends toward any watering down, so to speak, of the Bureau of Public Roads." During the hearings, Undersecretary Robert Murray, Jr., denies rumors that Bureau of Public Roads is going to be dissolved.

1956: Ralph DePalma died.

1976: At 4 p.m., Transportation Secretary William Coleman Jr., and Administrator Norbert Tiemann open the "Highways of History" exhibit in the lobby of the Old Pension Building in Washington, DC. The exhibit features 109 paintings by Bureau of Public Roads' Carl Rakeman, pronounced Rock-a-mon.

19XX: The film Tommy Boy was released.

2001: Vanishing Point was released for PlayStation in Europe.

2007: The W204 version of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class went on sale.

2017: The song “Highway Tune” by Greta Van Fleet was released.

2017: William T. Coleman Jr. died.