100 years

The first Seattle World's Fair was in 1909. It is famous for a few things like making money while being a non-alcoholic event and a major show of trade for the Pacific countries mainly Japan. Finally, it was built on now what is the campus of the University of Washington. That campus is widely thought as one of the most beautiful campuses of the U.S. partly because of the views and the lay out of boulevards that go back to the fair. All these facts are minor in a way, compared to one little recorded in history, the car race.

This fair offered the first cross country automobile race from New York City to Seattle with a large purse to the winner. Most of the companies entering cars had names long forgotten by all except car officiators and most of those cars were very heavy over 3,000 lbs. There was one odd entry, by an unknown man named Henry Ford, weighting around 1,000 lbs.

The race was over land without roads, markers or help. Endless muddy, being lost and breakdowns though the plains, desert and mountains.

In the end, the nearly bankrupt Henry Ford's car came in second. The publicity was overwhelming and he got the needed financing to start production. A few days later, his car was disqualified because they had changed the engine during the course of the race. History was on the move and coming in second or being disqualified did not change the outcome.

Henry Ford started building the model T, all 15 million of them, for the next 19 years.

One foot note to cars, I read last week that people that have long commutes in heavy traffic are more likely to get brain tumors. It is the fine particles that they breathe the article said.

Now, I feel more comfortable using my cell phone after reading this as the cause of brain tumors.