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On This Day in Automotive History: October 18

On This Day in Automotive History
October 18

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Birthdays: Grant Donaldson (1890), Grover Bergdoll (1893), Shorty Cantlon (1903), Roy Lake (1905), Ludovico Scarfiotti (1933), Dave Darveau (1936), Fred Harbach (1936), Gunther Seiffert (1937), Paul Shull (1940), Hugh Hayden (1944), Juliette Slaughter (1945), Tom Rotsell (1948), Gianni Collini (1950), David Jansen (1950), Rit Dulac (1956), Mike Watts (1956), Leighton Reese (1957), Ron Peterson (1958), Dave Finney (1960), Darren Jackson (1968), Travis Ayres (1970), Charlie Menard (1972), Alex Tagliani (1973), Pete Storey (1978), Grant Folsom (1980), Jonny Reid (1983), Stuart Hall (1984), Dane Cameron (1988), Dillon Oliver (1989), Josh Todd (1994), Pascal Wehrlein (1994), Jason Wolfe (1994), Justin Fontaine (1997), Danial Frost (2001), Broc Feeney (2002)

1957: Bureau of Public Roads adds 2,102 miles to the Interstate System, including the 1,000-mile extension from the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and the 1,102 miles made available from the 40,000 miles authorized in 1944 (by adoption of more direct alignments than the existing highways). State proposals had totalled 13,775 miles. Proposals were considered on a national basis, taking into account national defense needs, system integration, transportation requirements of industry and agriculture, and population service.

1960: President Dwight D. Eisenhower is the principal guest and speaker at the opening of the Hiawatha Bridge across the Missouri River between Minnesota and Wisconsin at Red Wing. Minnesota Division Engineer and Mrs. W.W. Fryhofer as well as Wisconsin Division Engineer R. H. Paddock represent Bureau of Public Roads. The bridge replaces a substandard, load-limited structure.

1966: President Lyndon Johnson issues a directive establishing an Interagency Department of Transportation Task Force to provide for establishment of the USDOT with a minimum of disruption. Chief Engineer Frank Turner represents Bureau of Public Roads/FHWA on the task force, but other Bureau of Public Roads officials participate in the activities (S. K. Booth, Laurence S. Casazza, W. D. Dillan, James D. Lacy, Thomas F. McGarry, E. J. Martin, S. E. Ridge, and C. H. Smith).

2005: Th song “Jesus, Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood was released.