Today in History
May 30, 1911
Winning Driver Popularizes the Rear View Mirror
Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500, driving a single seat car, the Marmon "Wasp". While most racing cars at the time are two seaters, with a "mechanician" riding in the passenger's seat to provide information about the other car's locations, Harroun instead attaches a rear view mirror to his car. He finishes the race in 6 hours 42 minutes, with an average speed of 74.6 mph. Modern Indy race cars often exceed 200 mph.
Today's Feature History Article
The race is on for cars that drive themselves
Most Popular History Articles
- When an Army of Artists Fooled Hitler
- For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of WWII
- A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials
- We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now
- The True Story of the Battle of Bunker Hill
- The Rise and Fall and Rise of Zahi Hawass
- The Law that Ripped America in Two
- Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?
- Who Was Mary Magdalene?