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Elmo T
11-28-18, 09:23 AM
The First American Automobile Race (https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/november-28/?loclr=twloc)

Some cool history here from the Library of Congress. And if you have time to kill, you can get lost in their historic photos.


At 8:55 a.m. on November 28, 1895, six “motocycles” left Chicago’s Jackson Park for a 54-mile race to Evanston, Illinois, and back—through the snow. Number 5, piloted by inventor J. Frank Duryea, won the race in just over 10 hours at an average speed of about 7.3 miles per hour! The winner earned $2,000; the enthusiast who named the horseless vehicles “motocycles” won $500; and the Chicago Times-Herald, sponsor of the race, declared:

Persons who are inclined…to decry the development of the horseless carriage…will be forced…to recognize it as an admitted mechanical achievement, highly adapted to some of the most urgent needs of our civilization.

“The Future of the Motocycle.” The Chicago Times-Herald, November 29, 1895, 6.

Some unrelated photos from their archives:

http://i67.tinypic.com/2napwt1.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/vdiavk.png

http://i64.tinypic.com/24xq97c.jpg