On this day in…
1868
155 years ago
The world’s first traffic lights invented by the railway engineer J Read more…
1896
127 years ago
The George N Pierce Company was incorporated in New York state by George N Pierce, Henry May, Samuel J Thompson, E Clifford Poter ad Lorenzo B Somerby Read more…
1906
117 years ago
Daniel MacKinlay Jr Read more…
1921
102 years ago
A young engineer at General Motors (GM) named Thomas Midgley Jr Read more…
1927
96 years ago
The Hon Mrs Victor Bruce and her husband, assisted by J Read more…
1941
82 years ago
The Automobile Racing Drivers Club of America closed its doors due to World War II, which created shortages of fuel, tires, and other automotive necessities–including men to drive the cars Read more…
1945
78 years ago
American entrepreneur Preston Tucker revealed plans to produce the Torpedo, a new 150 mph car Read more…
1950
73 years ago
Swiss-born Ernest Henry, the man who gave the world the double overhead camshaft, died alone in Paris Read more…
1951
72 years ago
Hudson announced their intent to produce a ‘light car’, the Jet Read more…
1954
69 years ago
Mercedes-Benz unveiled its first semi-integral bus – the O321 H Read more…
1954
69 years ago
Alvaro S Krotz, designer of the 1903-04 Krotz Electric, the 1908-12 Sears, and the 1908-11 Krotz Gas-Electric, died aged 90 Read more…
1963
60 years ago
After insufficient initial sales of the 1964 models and the ousting of president Sherwood Egbert, Studebaker announced the closure of its South Bend plant in Indiana, US Read more…
1969
54 years ago
The AC Spark Plug Division of General Motors began developing the catalytic converter under the direction of General Manager George W Chestnut, Chief Engineer, Thomas Hustead, and General Motors President Edward N Cole Read more…
1983
40 years ago
The Ford/Cosworth Engineering Ltd Read more…
1993
30 years ago
‘K1NGS’ car registration plate was sold at auction to an anonymous buyer for £233,000 Read more…
1994
29 years ago
The lid finally came off the simmering debate over who was to blame for the Ayrton Senna’s fatal crash the previous May, with comments in a Sunday newspaper by lead investigator Professor Enrico Lorenzini Read more…
1998
25 years ago
Sheila Mimms of Miami, Florida, US lost custody of her 1996 Harley-Davidson FXDL Dyna Low Rider Monday, when a court ruled that the 38-year-old waitress was an unfit motorcycle mama Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Shanghai reported plans to ban bicycles from its major roads in 2004, banishing China’s most popular form of transportation to make more room for cars Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Britain’s first toll motorway opened Read more…
2004
19 years ago
General Motors Europe reaffirmed it would chop 12,000 jobs over two years, around a fifth of its workforce, to lop 500 million euros ($673 million) from costs to cut losses Read more…
2005
18 years ago
London’s Routemaster buses, designed by London Transport, built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles, in use since the 1950s, were withdrawn from regular service Read more…
2005
18 years ago
Lotus unveiled its new two-seater £33,000 GT car Read more…
2006
17 years ago
A trailer dislodged from a moving truck and crashed into a bus on a mountain road in Mae Sot district, Tak Province, Thailand, killing 12 and injuring 20 Read more…
2007
16 years ago
The Ascari A10 set the fastest ‘Power Lap’ time around the Top Gear test track, posting a time of 1:17 Read more…
2009
14 years ago
Germany’s Volkswagen announced that it had agreed to pay $2 Read more…
2010
13 years ago
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were travelling in the Silver Jubilee Car to the Royal Variety Performance in London (UK) when it was attacked by student protesters; the couple were unhurt, but the car, which was not armoured, was spattered with paint and one of the side windows was smashed Read more…
2015
8 years ago
Genesis Motors announced the launch of its first model, the G90 (EQ900 in South Korea Read more…
