2015 Event Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen, resigns in the midst of a scandal in which the company confessed to installing software in its cars for the last 7 years in order to fool emissions test devices while violating U.S. clean air standards 2015 Event Google will begin testing self-driving cars on the streets of Mountain View, California this summer; the company has tested modified versions of existing vehicles but will now test cars developed specifically for self-driving 2014 Event General Motors (GM) issues its 71st recall this year, affecting over 500,000 Cadillac SUVs, Saab SUVs and Chevy Spark cars that may have defective or loose parts; GM is also halting sales of GMC Canyons and Chevy Colorados due to air bag concerns 2014 Event Tesla Motors announces that it will make hundreds of patents for its Model S electric cars open source; the company's founder, Elon Musk, seeks to encourage development of the electric car market 2014 Event Elon Musk, head of Tesla Motors, Inc., announces that the company will begin selling its luxury electric cars in China this month 2013 Event Japan's Honda, Nissan and Mazda automakers announce plas to recall 3.4 million cars due to airbag defects. 2013 Event Estonia becomes the first country in the world to establish a national electric car charging network , with cars charging in less than 30 minutes 2011 Event In London, British rioters set police cars on fire in the suburb of Tottenham 2010 Event The Leaf, one of the first mass market electric cars is launched by Nissan 2010 Event Two U.S. embassy cars are set on fire in Kabul after a U.S. vehicle collides with a civilian vehicle 2009 Birthday Brittany Murphy, actress, appeared in films, 'Sin City', 'Happy Feet', 'Clueless', 'Riding in Cars with Boys', 'Abandoned', dies in Los Angeles, California at age 32 1991 Event 93 cars and 11 truck accident near San Francisco during a dust storm, 17 die 1984 Event "Drive" by Cars peaks at #3 1984 Event Government orders air bags or seat belts would be required in cars by 1989 1982 Event SF's cable cars made a final run before closing down for 20-month 1982 Event 46 kids and 7 adults die as 2 buses and several cars collide in France 1980 Event "Cars," by Gary Numan hits #9 1979 Event Cars play concert in New York Central Park 1979 Event Supreme Court rules, 8-1, police can't randomly stop cars 1977 Birthday Brittany Murphy, born in Atlanta, Georgia, actress, appeared in films, 'Sin City', 'Happy Feet', 'Clueless', 'Riding in Cars with Boys', 'Abandoned' 1976 Event The Cars played their 1st gig 1975 Event Cars in Netherlands must have seatbelts 1972 Event Evil Knievel breaks 93 bones after successfully clearing 35 cars 1969 Event Last wooden passenger subway cars retired at Brooklyn Myrtle Beach el 1968 Event Golden Gate Bridge charges tolls only for southbound cars 1967 Birthday Steve Zahn, born in Marshall, Minnesota, actor, appeared in films, 'Reality Bites', 'That Thing You Do', 'Happy Texas', 'Riding in Cars with Boys' 1964 Event 3 cars of a commuter train derails in South Africa killing 81 1964 Event San Francisco cable cars declared a national landmark 1953 Birthday Elliot Easton, Elliot Shapiro, born in Brooklyn, New York, rock guitarist, Cars 1949 Birthday David Robinson, born in Woburn, Massachusetts, drummer, musician, played with various rock bands including The Cars, The Modern Lovers and DMZ 1947 Death Henry Ford, U.S. industrialist - Ford cars, dies 1929 Event Seatrain (RR cars on ships) service begins, New Orleans-Havana 1912 Event Electric starter 1st appeared in cars 1906 Event Louis H. Perlman patents a demountable tire carrying rim for cars 1897 Event Andrew J Beard invents "jerry coupler," to connect railroad cars 1895 Event America's 1st auto race starts; 6 cars, 55 miles, winner avg 7 MPH 1876 Event 11 passenger cars crash in a ravine near Ashtabula Ohio, 92 die 1871 Event Segregated street cars integrated in Louisville, Kentucky 1863 Event Submarine "HL Hunley" arrives in Charleston on railroad cars 1861 Event Black demonstrators in Charleston staged ride-ins on street cars 1809 Event 1st practical U.S. railroad track (wooden, for horse-drawn cars), Philadelphia
