Saturday 24th January 1914

Airplane pilot Lincoln Beachey and automobile racer Barney Oldfield staged their first “Championship of the Universe.” race in Emeryville, California. The men barnstormed the country, playing to more remote areas at county fair horse tracks. The premise was that Oldfield would race his automobiles against Beachey’s biplanes for the ultimate championship. The program was extremely successful, netting the men over $250,000 – worth millions by today’s value of money.