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Births on October 1

Willy Mairesse
1928Oct, 1

Willy Mairesse

Willy Mairesse, Belgian race car driver (d. 1969)
Willy Mairesse (1 October 1928 – 2 September 1969) was a Formula One and sports-car driver from Belgium. He participated in 13 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 June 1960. He achieved one podium and scored a total of seven championship points. He committed suicide in a hotel room in Ostend after a crash at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans forced an end to his career.Peter Revson once described the intensity of Mairesse before a race at Spa, Belgium. Revson looked into his car and saw Mairesse's "furrowed" face, beetled brows, and eyes which were almost tilted and their colour changed. "It was almost like looking at the devil."

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Events on 1928

  • 12Mar

    St. Francis Dam

    In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kills 431 people.
  • 12Apr

    Junkers W 33

    The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
  • 4Jun

    Zhang Zuolin

    The President of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin, is assassinated by Japanese agents.
  • 18Jun

    Amelia Earhart

    Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she is a passenger; Wilmer Stultz is the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).
  • 2Oct

    Josemaría Escrivá

    The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded by Josemaría Escrivá.