October 3, 1912
In the first professional racing victory for a car fitted with a Duesenberg engine, race car driver Mortimer Roberts won the 220-mile Pabst Blue Ribbon Trophy Race, held in and around the village of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. The engine was designed by Duesenberg brothers who had immigrated to Iowa from Germany in the late-nineteenth century. After honing his mechanical talents by repairing early automobiles, Frederick Duesenberg became enthralled with the prospect of motor racing, and with his brother August opened an automobile shop. After establishing their reputation with engines and other racing parts, the Duesenberg brothers began construction of the first complete Duesenberg racing cars. The first great racing triumph of one of their cars came in 1921 when a Duesenberg was driven to victory in the 24-Hour event at Le Mans, France. The mid-1920s found the Duesenbergs in the racing world's spotlight, especially at the Indy 500, where their cars won the event outright in 1924, 1925, and 1927. But the Duesenberg's most significant contribution to automotive history came after automobile manufacturer E.L. Cord bought Duesenberg Motors in 1926, with the sole purpose of obtaining the design expertise of Fred Duesenberg. Cord wanted to produce the most luxurious car in the world, and in 1928, the Duesenberg-designed Model J was presented, widely considered to be one of the finest automobiles ever made.
October 3, 1961
The United Auto Workers (UAW) called the first company-wide strike against Ford Motor Company since the Ford's first union contract was signed in 1941. During the late 1930s, Ford was the last of the Big Three auto firms still holding out against unionization, and it employed strong-arm tactics to suppress any union activity. In 1937, tension between Ford and its workers came to a head at the "Battle of the Overpass," an infamous event where Ford's dreaded security force beat union organizers attempting to pass out UAW leaflets along the Miller Road Overpass in Dearborn, Michigan. Several people were brutally beaten while many other union supporters, including 11 women, were injured in the melee that followed. It took four more years of struggle and a 10-day strike before Ford agreed to sign its first closed-shop contract with the UAW, covering 123,000 employees. The ascension of Henry Ford II, Henry Ford's grandson, to the Ford leadership position in 1945 brought a period of stability in Ford-UAW relations, especially after Henry Ford II fired the powerful Personnel Chief Harry Bennett, whose anti-union stance had made Ford notorious for its bad labor relations. But in 1961, negotiations between the Ford Motor Company and the UAW fell apart again, and it took 17 days of striking before a tenuous three-year agreement was signed.
UAW Strike
Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia