First US Auto Race Proves The Worth Of Horseless Buggies On This Day In Market History

Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.

What Happened

On Nov. 28, 1895, Chicago hosted the nation’s first horseless-carriage race.

Where The Market Was

The S&P 500 traded near $4.32.

What Else Was Going On In The World

Earlier that month, the Nobel Prize was established, a German physicist detected X-rays and the U.S. granted the first auto patent for a gasoline-run car.

US Establishes 20th-Century Horse Racing

The six-car auto race took drivers on a 54-mile round trip between Chicago and Evanston. Racers steered through blizzard conditions with a wooden tiller, and only two of an initial 89 entries completed the loop. Winner Frank Duryea crossed the finish line more than 10 hours after the start, clocking in at an average speed of 7.3 miles per hour.

Race organizers said the event — taking place just two years after the construction of the American gas-powered automobile — demonstrated the utility of the yet-underproduced innovation.

“Persons who are inclined … to decry the development of the horseless carriage…will be forced…to recognize it as an admitted mechanical achievement, highly adapted to some of the most urgent needs of our civilization,” race sponsor The Chicago Times-Herald said at the time.

Nearly a decade later, Ford Motor Company F would be incorporated.

Related Links:

This Day In Market History: The First Ford Model T Leaves Detroit Plant

This Day In Market History: Ford Produces 1 Millionth Model T

Photo credit: Riemer's Loco winning five-miles event in 10:51 4-5, Grosse Pointe track, Detroit. Library of Congress.