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On This Day in Automotive History: October 2

On This Day in Automotive History
October 2

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October 1 « Go to » October 3

National Name Your Car Day

Birthdays: Lee Frayer (1874), Joe Rogers (1901), Smokey Purser (1904), Jan Flinterman (1919), Fran Jischke (1920), Jim Cook (1921), Mike Nazaruk (1921), Giorgio Scarlatti (1921), Richard Spittle (1922), Paul Goldsmith (1925), Jack Bowsher (1930), Glen Ward (1946), Michael Bleekemolen (1949), Bobby Fisher (1950), Carl Pasteryak (1950), Randy Becker (1952), Tony Hulin (1952), Lee Raymond (1954), Jim Waters (1960), John Goodacre (1961), Steven Knipe (1962), Joe Barnes (1963), Chuck Schartzer (1965), Bob Faieta (1966), Stacy Vicars (1971), Richard Gould (1974), Mark Porter (1974), Mike Abram (1979), Kyle Hadley (1979), Kristi Schmitt (1980), Jason Hogan (1982), Ashley Stremme (1984), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1987), Trevor Ward (1990), Larry ten Voorde (1996), Anderson Bowen (1997)

1946: Restrictions on highway construction with Federal funds, imposed on August 5, 1946, by the Director of War Mobilization and Reconversion to avoid conflict with the post World War II housing program, are lifted except for projects requiring structural steel.

1957: The Vauxhall Cresta PA was announced.

1969: Regional Federal Highway Administrator John A. Hanson, who joined Bureau of Public Roads in 1949, is killed in a car accident a block from his Albany, New York, office. Deputy Director E. H. Swick represents Administrator Frank Turner at the funeral. An annual award, given for outstanding performance in the transportation field in Region 1, is named for Hanson.

1976: Secretary of Transportation William Coleman, Jr., holds a public hearing to receive arguments on proposed I-66 between the Capital Beltway and Washington, DC. The hearing, held in the Departmental Auditorium in Washington, DC, provides the Secretary with an opportunity to hear arguments on whether he should approve construction of I-66 as a four-lane highway. Following a public hearing on June 21, 1975, Secretary Coleman had rejected the State's six-lane proposal.

1987: The film Big Shots was released.

1993: Administrator Rodney Slater is keynote speaker at the opening of the Isle of Palms Connector in South Carolina. The project, built in part with emergency relief funds made available following the devastation caused by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, is hailed for environmental sensitivity in minimizing damage to delicate salt marshes.

2001: Mary E. Peters, former Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation (1998-2001), takes the oath of office as the 15th Federal Highway Administrator. The first woman to hold the title, she remains in the post until July 30, 2005. On September 5, 2006, President George W. Bush would nominate her to be Secretary of Transportation, saying that as Administrator, "Mary led efforts to improve safety and security, reduce traffic congestion, and modernize America's roads and bridges."

2007: Andy Hillenburg purchased North Carolina Speedway.

2018: The film Born Racer was released.