The 1906 French Grand Prix was a motor race held on 26 and 27 June
1906, on closed public roads outside the city of Le Mans. The Grand
Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF) at the
prompting of the French automobile industry as an alternative to the
Gordon Bennett races, which limited each competing country's number of
entries regardless of the size of its industry. The ACF chose a
103.18-kilometre (64.11 mi) circuit, composed primarily of dust roads
sealed with tar, which would be lapped six times on both days by each
competitor, a combined race distance of 1,238.16 kilometres
(769.36 mi). Lasting for more than 12 hours overall, the race was won
by Ferenc Szisz driving for the Renault team. Renault's victory
contributed to an increase in sales for the French manufacturer in the
years following the race. Despite being the second to carry the title,
the race has become known as the first Grand Prix. The success of the
1906 French Grand Prix prompted the ACF to run the Grand Prix again the
following year, and the German automobile industry to organise the
Kaiserpreis, the forerunner to the German Grand Prix, in 1907.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_French_Grand_Prix>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
325:
The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the
Christian Church, was formally opened in present-day Iznik, Turkey.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea>
685:
The Picts defeated the Northumbrians near Dunnichen, severely weakening
the latter's power in northern Great Britain.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunnichen>
1293:
Sancho IV, King of Castile and León, established what is now the
Complutense University of Madrid, today one of Spain's top public
universities.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complutense_University_of_Madrid>
1570:
The first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by cartographer
Abraham Ortelius, was issued.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Ortelius>
1927:
By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty
of King Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become
Saudi Arabia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Saud_of_Saudi_Arabia>
2002:
East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, becoming the first new
sovereign state of the 21st century.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timor>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
kinematic (adj):
Of or relating to motion or to kinematics
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kinematic>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any
member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm
to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient
warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it
will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier,
because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even
right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning
with him, or persuading him or entreating him, but not for compelling
him, or visiting him with any evil, in case he do otherwise.
--John Stuart Mill
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill>