A Hundred Years Ago

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In 1911 Harley Davidson introduced an improved V-Twin model

The new engine had mechanically operated intake valves, as opposed to the “automatic” intake valves used on earlier V-Twins that opened by engine vacuum. With a displacement of 49.48 cubic inches (810.8 cc), the 1911 V-Twin was smaller than earlier twins, but gave better performance.

January 1911 : The first Monte Carlo Rally.

1912 Monte Carlo Rally entrant. The term "rally", as a branch of motor sport, probably dates from the first Monte Carlo Rally of January 1911

1911: The first Indianapolis 500 automobile race is run.

The winner that first year, Ray Harroun, averaged 74.59 miles per hour to best 39 other drivers in a race that lasted six hours and 42 minutes.

Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks

Pilot Cal Rodgers takes off from New York City and begins the first transcontinental flight across the United States.

March 1911 : The M1911 semi-automatic handgun

The M1911 semi-automatic handgun designed by John Browning becomes the standard-issue handgun in the United States Army, and is subsequently widely used in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.

May 1911 : The New York Public Library opened.

The New York Public Library (NYPL) is the third largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries. It is simultaneously one of the largest public library systems in the United States and one of the largest research library systems in the world.

August 1911 : Ishi, the last Native American

Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with whites, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.

September 1911 : French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested

French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum.

December 1911 : First expedition reaches the South Pole, led by Roald Amundsen

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912. He was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage.







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