• November 14 down the years

The semi-blind American hero

1893
Tommy Milton, the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, was born on this day in Minnesota. Milton's achievements were all the more remarkable because he had limited vision which led to him being rejected for military service in World War One. He started driving in a circus act, recorded his first major win in 1919 and while recovering from serious burns sustained in an accident later that year, broke the world land speed record. He won the Indy 500 in 1921 and again in 1923. He went on to become Indianapolis's lead steward before poor health forced him to stand down, and dogged by illness he committed suicide in 1962.

1954
Most famous for being kicked and punched live on television by Nelson Piquet after the two had collided in the 1982 German Grand Prix, Eliseo Salazar was born in Santiago, Chile on this day. Following a relatively uninspiring three year stint in Formula One, he moved to race in Indy Cars in the 1990s, racing for AJ Foyt in the 2002 Indy Racing League.

2003
The BMW Williams team announced that Nico Rosberg and Nelson Piquet Jr would test for the team at Jerez de Frontera in the first week of December to evaluate whether either had the potential to be test drivers in 2004. Jaguar Racing also announced that it would test Red Bull backed Christian Klien and Townsend Bell at Valencia at the end of the month. Both Rosberg and Klien went on to race for Williams and Jaguar Racing while Piquet Jr secured a Renault drive in 2008.

1896
The first ever London to Brighton car run was staged. Dubbed the Emancipation Run, it was organised by Henry Lawson to celebrate the passing of the Locomotives on the Highway Act which replaced the restrictive Locomotive Acts of 1861, 1865 and 1878 and raised the speed limit for cars from 4mph to 14mph and abolished the need for a man to walk in front of the vehicles waving a red flag. The event started with a breakfast at the Charing Cross Hotel which included the symbolic tearing in two by Lord Winchelsea of a red flag. More than 30 motorists set out but only 14 made it to Brighton. The first of the cars set off from London at 10.30 am and the first arrival in Brighton, by a Bollée, was timed at 2.30 pm. The run was next staged in 1927, and since then annually with the exception of the wartime years and 1947 due to petrol rationing. The 1953 film Genevieve is set during one of these runs.

2001
The Interpublic Group of Companies which owned Octagon Motorsport and the Silverstone race track at the time announced a $477.5 million third-quarter loss. The company blamed the situation on reduced advertising revenues and the cost of restructuring after an aggressive acquisition policy over the year.

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