Johnny Aitken
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Johnny Aitken
Johnny Aitken (May 3, 1885 – October 15, 1918) was an American racecar driver from Indianapolis, who was active in the years prior to World War I. Aitken competed in the Indianapolis 500 three times. He started the race twice, in 1911 and 1916. He led the first lap of the first race (1911). Aitken captured the pole position in 1916, but ended up in 15th place (his best finish) that year. In the 1915 Indianapolis 500, Aitken drove relief for two drivers, Gil Anderson and Earl Cooper (who ultimately finished 3rd and 4th). Biography Aitken competed in the Indianapolis 500 three times. He started the race twice, in 1911 and 1916. He led the first lap of the first race (1911). Aitken captured the pole position in 1916, but ended up in 15th place (his best finish) that year. In the 1915 Indianapolis 500, Aitken drove relief for two drivers, Gil Anderson and Earl Cooper (who ultimately finished 3rd and 4th). While Aitken never won the Indianapolis 500 as a driver, he did ...
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Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion County was 977,203 in 2020. The "balance" population, which excludes semi-autonomous municipalities in Marion County, was 887,642. It is the 15th most populous city in the U.S., the third-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, and the fourth-most populous state capital after Phoenix, Arizona, Austin, Texas, and Columbus. The Indianapolis metropolitan area is the 33rd most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., with 2,111,040 residents. Its combined statistical area ranks 28th, with a population of 2,431,361. Indianapolis covers , making it the 18th largest city by land area in the U.S. Indigenous peoples inhabited the area dating to as early as 10,000 BC. In 1818, the Lenape relinquishe ...
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Harvest Auto Racing Classic
The Harvest Auto Racing Classic was a series of three automobile races held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday September 9, 1916. The meet, held four months after the 1916 Indianapolis 500, featured a 20-mile race, a 50-mile race, and a 100-mile race. The main event, a 100-mile Championship Car race, paid points towards the 1916 AAA National Championship. Johnny Aitken won all three races, two of which had a margin of victory of less than a car length. The event was a unique footnote in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Between 1911 and 1993, the Harvest Auto Racing Classic was the only time an official race other than the Indianapolis 500 was contested at the track. It as also the last event held at the facility prior to the United States involvement in World War I. The track would shut down for two years (1917–1918) during the war, and reopened in 1919. Race background The 1916 Indianapolis 500 was held on May 30, 1916. Under unique circumstances, ...
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Indianapolis 500 Drivers
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion County was 977,203 in 2020. The "balance" population, which excludes semi-autonomous municipalities in Marion County, was 887,642. It is the 15th most populous city in the U.S., the third-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, and the fourth-most populous state capital after Phoenix, Arizona, Austin, Texas, and Columbus. The Indianapolis metropolitan area is the 33rd most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., with 2,111,040 residents. Its combined statistical area ranks 28th, with a population of 2,431,361. Indianapolis covers , making it the 18th largest city by land area in the U.S. Indigenous peoples inhabited the area dating to as early as 10,000 BC. In 1818, the Lenape relinquished th ...
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Racing Drivers From Indianapolis
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goal. A race may be run continuously to finish or may be made up of several segments called heats, stages or legs. A heat is usually run over the same course at different times. A stage is a shorter section of a much longer course or a time trial. Early records of races are evident on pottery from ancient Greece, which depicted running men vying for first place. A chariot race is described in Homer's ''Iliad''. Etymology The word ''race'' comes from a Norse word. This Norse word arrived in France during the invading of Normandy and gave the word ''raz'' which means "swift water" in Brittany, as in a mill race; it can be found in "Pointe du Raz" (the most western point of France, in Brittany), and "''raz-de-marée''" (tsunami). The word rac ...
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1918 Deaths
This year is noted for the end of the World War I, First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – 1918 flu pandemic: The "Spanish flu" (influenza) is first observed in Haskell County, Kansas. * January 4 – The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia, Sweden, German Empire, Germany and France. * January 9 – Battle of Bear Valley: U.S. troops engage Yaqui people, Yaqui Native American warriors in a minor skirmish in Arizona, and one of the last battles of the American Indian Wars between the United States and Native Americans. * January 15 ** The keel of is laid in Britain, the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be laid down. ** The Red Army (The Workers and Peasants Red Army) ...
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1885 Births
Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William W. Grant, on Mary Gartside. * January 17 – Mahdist War in Sudan – Battle of Abu Klea: British troops defeat Mahdist forces. * January 20 – American inventor LaMarcus Adna Thompson patents a roller coaster. * January 24 – Irish rebels damage Westminster Hall and the Tower of London with dynamite. * January 26 – Mahdist War in Sudan: Troops loyal to Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad conquer Khartoum; British commander Charles George Gordon is killed. * February 5 – King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State, as a personal possession. * February 9 – The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii. * February 16 – Charles Dow publishes ...
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Influenza Pandemic Of 1918
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was March 1918 in Kansas, United States, with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in April. Two years later, nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves. Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history. The pandemic broke out near the end of World War I, when wartime censors suppressed bad news in the belligerent countries to maintain morale, but newspapers freely reported the outbreak in neutral Spain, creating a false impression of Spain as the epicenter and leading to the "Spanish flu" misnomer. Limited historical epidemiological ...
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Howdy Wilcox
Howard Samuel Wilcox (June 24, 1889 – September 4, 1923) was an American racecar driver active in the formative years of auto racing. Biography He was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana on June 24, 1889. Wilcox won the 1919 Indianapolis 500, leading the last 98 laps of the race after starting in the 2nd position. In 1911 Howdy set the world beach racing speed record of 89.23 mph. He died on September 4, 1923 at Altoona Speedway board track in Tyrone, Pennsylvania in a car crash. He was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. Wilcox's wife had died the year before. Wilcox's son, Howard Jr., founded the Little 500 bicycle race, which has been held at Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ... annually since 1951.
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Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to its climate, beaches, and hospitality industry. It has a diverse economy, hosting headquarters of companies such as Hulu, Universal Music Group, Lionsgate Films, and The Recording Academy. Santa Monica traces its history to Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, granted in 1839 to the Sepúlveda family of California. The rancho was later sold to John P. Jones and Robert Baker, who in 1875, along with his Californio heiress wife Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker, founded Santa Monica, which incorporated as a city in 1886. The city developed into a seaside resort during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the creation of tourist attractions such as Palisades Park, the Santa Monica Pier, Ocean Park, and the Hotel Casa del Mar. Hi ...
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United States Grand Prix
The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held 50 times at ten different locations. Since 2012, it has been held every year at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, except in 2020 when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. History Beginnings and the Vanderbilt Cup Inspired by the Gordon Bennett Cup (auto racing), Gordon Bennett Cup and Circuit des Ardennes (motor racing), Circuit des Ardennes races he had competed in, William Kissam Vanderbilt founded a series of road races in the United States to showcase American road racing to the world. The Vanderbilt Cup soon became an institution on New York's Long Island, attracting American and European competitors alike. However, the race was plagued by crowd control problems, which led to spectator deat ...
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Harkness Trophy Race
The Harkness Trophy Race was an American auto racing event, first run in 1915 at the Sheepshead Bay Speedway at Sheepshead Bay, New York. The winner's trophy was named for Harry Harkness, one of the principal investors who purchased the Sheepshead Bay Race Track horse racing facility, and converted it to a wooden board automobile race track. The purchase was completed in April 1915, and the first race named for Harkness was held on November 2 of that year. The race ceased to exist after four years. The Sheepshead Bay Speedway Corporation ran into financial difficulties, following the January, 1919, death of Harry Harkness. The property was sold for residential real estate development. Race results {, class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" , - ! rowspan="2", Year ! rowspan="2", Date ! rowspan="2", Race Name ! rowspan="2", Winning Driver ! rowspan="2", Car ! colspan="2", Race Distance ! rowspan="2", Time of Race ! rowspan="2", Winning Speed , - ! Miles ! Laps , - , 1915 , ...
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Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York. Early history The racetrack was built by a group of prominent businessmen from the New York City area who formed the Coney Island Jockey Club in 1879. Led by Leonard Jerome, James R. Keene, and the track's president, William Kissam Vanderbilt, the Club held seasonal race cards at nearby Prospect Park fairgrounds until construction of the new race course was completed. On June 19, 1880 the track hosted its first day of Thoroughbred racing. Old maps and railroad track diagrams for the Manhattan Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road showing the spur that served both the club and the racetrack indicates the entrance to the club was located on the east side of Ocean Avenue between Avenues X and Y. The Sheepshead Bay Race Track station contained six tracks and three island platforms. In its first year of operations, the new ...
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