On May 30, 1911, Ray Harroun (above) dove his single-seater
Marmon Wasp to victory in the inaugural Indianapolis 500,
now one of the world’s most famous motor racing events.

The Indiana automobile dealer Carl Fisher first proposed
building a private auto testing facility in 1906, in order to
address car manufacturers’ inability to test potential top
speeds of new cars due to the poorly developed state of
the public roadways. The result, the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, built on 328 acres of farmland five miles
northwest of downtown Indianapolis.

Ray Harroun (January 12, 1879 – January 19, 1968)

Harroun’s original Marmon “Wasp” on display at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway Museum.

Billy Joe Thomas (August 7, 1942 – May 29, 2021)

(AP) – B.J. Thomas, the Grammy-winning singer who enjoyed
success on the pop, country and gospel charts with such hits
as “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On
My Head” and “Hooked on a Feeling,” has died.

Thomas, who announced in March that he had been
diagnosed with lung cancer, died from complications
of the disease Saturday at his home in Arlington, Texas.

The Big Trail, Wayne’s first role as a leading man (1930).

Born Marion Michael Morrison, Wayne’s family moved to Glendale,
California, when he was six years old. As a teen, he rose at four in
the morning to deliver newspapers, and after school he played
football and made deliveries for local stores. When he graduated
from high school, he hoped to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, But
after the school rejected him, he accepted a full scholarship to play
football at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

In the summer of 1926, Wayne’s football coach found him a job as
an assistant prop man on the set of a movie directed by John Ford.

Ford started to use Wayne as an extra, and he eventually began to
trust him with some larger roles

On May 25, 1935, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Babe
Ruth hit his 714th home run, a record for career home runs that
would stand for almost 40 years. This was one of Ruth’s last games,
and the last home run of his career. Ruth went four for four on the
day, hitting three home runs and driving in six runs.

Babe Ruth touches home plate after his 714th and final home run
at Forbes Field it was his 3rd home run of the game!