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On This Day in Automotive History: September 13

On This Day in Automotive History
September 13

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Birthdays: Bill Kimmel Sr. (1928), Mike MacDowel (1932), Ray Skillman (1941), Claude Swietlik (1941), Charlie Sentman (1942), Jean-Marie Almeras (1943), Terry Bivins (1943), Russ Kenser (1944), Bob Pearson (1946), John Kohler (1947), Warwick Henderson (1948), Rick Fairbanks (1950), Henry Jones (1950), Mike Thomas (1954), Mike Smith (1955), Mark Schulz (1956), Dan Corcoran (1957), Jackie Carithers (1958), Frankie Kerr (1960), Jim Guthrie (1961), Mike Garvey (1962), Willie Green (1962), Tony Wells (1964), Jeff Gordon (1966), Dion Ciccarelli (1967), Wayne Wakefield (1970), Scott Bargwanna (1972), Mike Simpson (1983), Kamui Kobayashi (1986), Tom Woodin (1988), Jimmy Simpson (1992), Rodrigo Baptista (1996), Paul Guiod (1999), Gabe Brown (2002)

1899: Henry H. Bliss is run over by a car in New York City, becoming what is believed to be the first recorded pedestrian traffic fatality in the United States.

1915: Light attendance, especially among expected speakers and participants from the East, mars the Pan-American Road Congress at Municipal Auditorium in Oakland, CA, sponsored by ARBA and the American Highway Association. The attendance problem is blamed on the time of year--officials and contractors are too busy on construction projects to take time for the conference. In the absence of Director Logan Page, his paper on "The History and Future of Highway Improvement" is read by Major W. W. Crosby, Maryland's Chief Engineer.

1946: President Harry Truman awards the Medal of Merit to Thomas H. MacDonald for outstanding service during World War II.

1966: President Lyndon Johnson signs the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which authorizes $5.2 billion for the Interstate System (FYs 1968-1972) in view of the increased cost of the System as shown in the 1965 Interstate Cost Estimate. The total cost will be $46.8 billion (Federal share: $42 billion), up from $41 billion ($37 billion) shown in the previous estimate (1961). The increase is attributed to a change to a 20-year design period, system adjustments, and increases in right-of-way and construction costs.

1974: Administrator Norbert Tiemann announces that a new training program for American Indians in the field of highway construction and related areas would go into effect on September 30. Under a May 20 agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, FHWA will provide on-the-job training, supervision of road construction projects, and certification.

1976: The soundtrack to the film Car Wash was released.

2013: The film Rush was released in the UK.

2014: The inaugural Formula E event is held in Beijing, China.