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On This Day in Automotive History: October 24

On This Day in Automotive History
October 24

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Birthdays: Billy Leisaw (1875), Norske Larson (1902), Louis Headley (1909), George Amick (1924), Gordon Bishop (1924), Byron Beatty (1925), Gus Newman (1925), Jerry Titus (1928), C.B. Gwyn (1935), St. James Davis (1943), Martin Raymond (1943), Thorkild Thyrring (1946), Michael Baughman (1951), Lewis Bakes (1957), Tracy Leslie (1957), Ed DeGroot (1958), Joachim Winkelhock (1960), Dave Blaney (1962), Philippe Illiano (1963), Patrick Lawler (1963), Strom Altman (1966), Robert Julien (1967), Greg Edwards (1971), Scott Brunk (1973), Trevor Stewart (1973), Todd Bowsher (1974), Ron Johnson (1974), Pierre Kleinubing (1974), Jeff O'Neill (1976), Jon Brill (1977), Harold Crooms (1979), Fairuz Fauzy (1982), Walt Brannen (1983), Brian Vickers (1983), Christopher Bruck (1984), Seth Ingham (1984), Irwin Vences (1985), Daniel McKenzie (1988), Nabil Jeffri (1993), Mathieu Jaminet (1994), Matt Wallace (1995), Connor Okrzesik (2001)

1918: A devastating national Spanish flu epidemic takes a grim toll on an OPR/Forest Service project on the Silverton-Durango Highway in southwestern Colorado. OPR Engineer-in-Charge Jo Kingsley, who was stricken last month, dies at Silverton today. John Corlie, OPR's Engineer-in-Charge of the north camp, also comes down with the flu (and died a few days later). As a result, panic grips the 115 laborers on the job. Almost overnight, the camp is practically deserted. Senior Engineer A. E. Palen is on the way to investigate, but the project may have to be postponed.

1923: In Olympia, Washington, Deputy Chief Engineer L.I. Hewes represents Bureau of Public Roads at the dedication of the Pacific Highway in a series of ceremonies marking the hard-surfacing of the highway from Canada to California. After the ceremonies, participants drive to the Interstate Bridge at Vancouver where "Old Man Detour" was hung in effigy amidst the acclaim of thousands of spectators.

1932: The film The Crowd Snores was released.

1945: PRA Materials Engineers Harry Rex and C.A. Bergey join C.M. Hartsock of the Raleigh office in North Carolina to inspect sand-asphalt roads that had shown evidence, during a 1943 inspection, of slipping on the underlying pavements. Today, they inspect several roads, including a three-lane section of U.S. 17 (Folkstone to Wilmington). The road had been resurfaced with sand-asphalt in 1942 and carried considerable traffic because of wartime activities at nearby military bases. However, the PRA team found the road in excellent condition.

1963: The Federal-Aid Highway Amendments, signed today by President John F. Kennedy, makes adjustments and technical corrections, notably revising Interstate standards to provide that design should be such as to accommodate traffic forecast 20 years ahead, rather than the fixed year, 1975, cited in previous legislation.

1965: Under Public Law 89-205, Federal employees who retire between today and December 30 will receive increased annuity payments (6.1 percent higher in addition to a 2-percent increase in effect for 1965). In Bureau of Public Roads, 125 employees retire under the Act (33 from Headquarters, 85 from field offices, and 7 from missions abroad).