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On This Day in Automotive History: May 21

On This Day in Automotive History
May 21

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Birthdays: Tom Alley (1889), Max McVey (1891), Wally Stokes (1913), Cotton Owens (1924), Andy Winfree (1929), George Poulos (1932), Fernand Tavano (1933), Danny Ongais (1942), Alec Poole (1943), Emilio Zapico (1944), Jack Wallace (1945), Richard Jenvey (1947), Emil Assentato (1949), Marcel Tarres (1951), Rodney Franklin (1953), Dave Marsili (1956), Enrique Contreras (1962), Morris Hood III (1965), Luciano Linossi (1968), Naveen Rao (1975), Wayne Setterington Jr. (1980), Lee Jacobs (1983), Sean McIntosh (1985), Nick Smith (1986), Danny Dietrich (1988), Brandon McReynolds (1991), James French (1992), Jay Niewiek (1993), Ant Whorton-Eales (1994), Sho Tsuboi (1995), Parker Retzlaff (2003)

1912: Director Logan Page has invited State highway officials from around the country to DC to meet Albert Mahieu, Engineer-in-Chief of France's Department of Bridges and Highways and Secretary-General of PIARC. Page wants U.S. road builders to learn what foreign countries are doing to improve their roads.

1928: The Federal-Aid Highway Amendment of 1928 authorizes the use of Federal-aid funds for planting shade trees along Federal-aid routes. The first year passes without any State proposing the use of funds for that purpose. Bureau of Public Roads' annual report for FY 1929 notes that some States may be devoting funds to "more utilitarian purposes" while others may "find it feasible" to use other funds. The report add that the greatest use of Federal-aid roads "is by those seeking pleasure and recreation by travel. To many such users a pleasant roadside prospect means as much as a smooth surface and easy grades."

1939: Williams Grove Speedway opened.

1961: The First National Highway Week begins, declared by President John F. Kennedy on April 29 "in recognition of the vital role of highway transportation in our way of life."

1962: Harold Rib of the Physical Research Division begins presentation of a course in air photo interpretation at the offices of the Wyoming State Highway Department. Officials from Colorado, South Dakota, and Bureau of Public Roads' Region 9 office also attend.

1982: Opening ceremonies for Seven Mile Bridge, part of the U.S. 1 Overseas Highway leading to Key West, Florida, take place. The bridge is the Nation's first of any length employing precast segmental construction.

1996: The song “One Headlight” by The Wallflowers was released on their album Bringing Down the Horse.

2003: The film The Brown Bunny was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

2005: Production of the Mercury Sable ended.