In front of some 12,000 spectators, automotive engineer Louis H.
Schwitzer wins the two-lap, five-mile inaugural race at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On this day in 1909, the first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
now the home of the world’s most famous motor racing competition, the Indianapolis 500.

Built on 328 acres of farmland five miles northwest of Indianapolis, Indiana,
the speedway was started by local businessmen as a testing facility for
Indiana’s growing automobile industry.

 In that first five-mile race on August 19, 1909, 12,000 spectators watched
Austrian engineer Louis Schwitzer win with an average speed of 57.4 miles
per hour. The track’s surface of crushed rock and tar proved a disaster,
breaking up in a number of places and causing the deaths of two drivers,
two mechanics and two spectators.

The surface was soon replaced with 3.2 million paving bricks, laid in a bed
of sand and fixed with mortar. Dubbed “The Brickyard,” the speedway
reopened in December 1909.

The above photo showing the bricks that were used to resurface
the speedway track.

Louis Schwitzer (center) and crew.

Louis H Schwitzer
(February 29, 1880 – May 9, 1967)

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

Darrell Waltrip

Richard Petty

During the Rebel 500 event at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, drivers
Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty swap the lead four times in a last-lap battle
before Waltrip finally wins the race.

The race also featured a pit stop mishap in which driver David Pearson,
following a miscommunication with his crew, drove away with only two of
his four tires properly changed. Pearson’s car flipped over and had to be
removed from the race. The embarrassing incident led to Pearson, who
was a top driver, being released from his team, Wood Brothers.

Richard Lee Petty will turn 81 July 2.

(Fox News) – Living racing legend Richard Petty (above) is auctioning off
a trove of trophies, memorabilia and even some of the cars from his 60-
year NASCAR career.

They include a 1974 Dodge Charger that he won 31 races with, including
the 1974 Daytona 500 (below).

The event is being organized by Julien’s Auctions and will take place at
the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on May 12.

JOHN BELMONT

Mark Twain’s "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was
published in the United States for the first time on
this day in 1885.

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
(November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910)

In Montgomery, AL, on this day in 1861, Jefferson Davis was
inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States.

Jefferson Davis was sworn in as Provisional President
of the Confederate States of America on the steps of
the Alabama State Capitol (above/below).

On this day in 1970, The Chicago Seven defendants were found
innocent of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic
national convention.

Police arrest protesters outside of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

John Joseph Travolta is 64 years old today. Born in Englewood, NJ.

John Travolta starred in the 1970s hit films Saturday Night Fever and 
Grease. He later went on to play Vincent Vega in the critically acclaimed
1994 film Pulp Fiction.

On this day in 2001, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was
killed in a crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500 race. He
died instantly from blunt force trauma to the skull.