At 5:45 PM on September 30, 1955, 24-year-old actor James
Dean was killed in Cholame, California, when the Porsche
he is driving hits a Ford Tudor sedan at an intersection.

Only one of Dean’s movies, “East of Eden,” had been released
at the time of his death (“Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant”
opened shortly afterward), but he was already on his way to superstardom—and the crash made him a legend.

James Dean loved racing cars, and in fact he and his brand-
new, $7000 Porsche Spyder convertible were on their way
to a race in Salinas, 90 miles south of San Francisco.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer, musician
and songwriter is 78 years old today. His recording
career spans seven decades.        
        
        
        
       

Shortly after leaving a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Senator
Edward “Ted” Kennedy of Massachusetts drove an Oldsmobile
off a wooden bridge into a tide-swept pond. Kennedy escaped
the submerged car, but his passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo
Kopechne, did not. The senator did not report the fatal car
accident for 10 hours.

January 10, 1969

Ralph Dale Earnhardt ( April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)

On February 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr., considered one of
the greatest drivers in National Association for Stock Car
Auto Racing (NASCAR) history, died at the age of 49 in a last-
lap crash at the 43rd Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Earnhardt was driving his famous black No. 3 Chevrolet and
vying for third place when he collided with another car, then
crashed into a wall. After being cut from his car, Earnhardt, 
was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead of
head injuries.

Kannapolis, NC: Dale Earnhardt Memorial.

  
TIM MAGUIRE

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955)

James Dean was one of those rare stars whose persona became
more famous than any of his films — and yet he would only live
to see one of those films released. The adaptation of Steinbeck’s
epic novel “East of Eden” (1955).

James Dean’s brief yet iconic time in the spotlight came to an
abrupt end when he died in a tragic car accident . The details
of his death remain both perplexing and disturbing to this day.