Tuesday 17th January 1899

Camille Jenatzy captured the land speed record in an electric car of his own design: 41.425mph at Acheres Park, France. On the same day, however, previous record holder Gaston Chasseloup-Laubat raised the record again, posting a speed of 43.690mph in an electric Jeantaud automobile. The feud wasn’t over yet. Jenatzy took the record again 10 days later, on January 27. Chasseloup-Laubat took it back on March 4, and Jenatzy reclaimed the record on April 29, the last time an electric car held the speed record. Until 1963, all other land-speed records had been set by steam or internal-combustion power. In 1963, Craig Breedlove took the land-speed record in a jet-powered car, and all record-holding cars since then have been propelled by jet or rocket engines.