The American Motors Corporation, best known for creating the Jeep, was bought out by Chrysler.
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Howard Hughes designed and built the world's fastest plane called the H-1 racer, then, on this day, flew it at a new world speed record at 352 miles per hour in Santa Fe, California.
The Sunbeam 1000 HP broke the land speed record at the Daytona Beach race track in Florida.
Future Pope John Paul II was almost killed by a Nazi truck in Krakow, Poland.
23 cars take part in the first Rally Monte Carlo.
George Selden filed for the first patent for a gasoline-driven automobile.
