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Birthday profile

Walt Hansgen

Walt Hansgen, American race car driver (died 1966)

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Born
October 28, 1919
Died
April 7, 1966
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1919

About Walt Hansgen

Walter Edwin Hansgen was an American racecar driver. His motorsport career began as a road racing driver, he made his Grand Prix debut at 41, and he died aged 46, several days after crashing during testing for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Hansgen won the Formula Junior race at the inaugural United States Grand Prix meeting at Sebring, Florida, on December 12, 1959, driving a Stanguellini. Hansgen won the Monterey Grand Prix, at Laguna Seca Raceway, on October 17, 1965, driving John Mecom's Lola T70-Ford. Walter Edwin Hansgen (October 28, 1919 – April 7, 1966) was an American racecar driver.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Walt Hansgen timeline

  1. Walter Edwin Hansgen (October 28, 1919 – April 7, 1966) was an American racecar driver.
  2. Hansgen won the Formula Junior race at the inaugural United States Grand Prix meeting at Sebring, Florida, on December 12, 1959, driving a Stanguellini.
  3. Hansgen won the Monterey Grand Prix, at Laguna Seca Raceway, on October 17, 1965, driving John Mecom's Lola T70-Ford.
  4. His motorsport career began as a road racing driver, he made his Grand Prix debut at 41, and he died aged 46, several days after crashing during testing for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The world when Walt Hansgen was born

Walt Hansgen was born in 1919. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1919

  • Best-selling book"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" – Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentBlack Sox scandal — 1919 World Series fixed
  • Top headlineTreaty of Versailles signed — 18th Amendment (Prohibition)
  • Technology milestoneFirst nonstop transatlantic flight (Alcock & Brown)
  • Defining fadOuija boards
  • Notable inventionPop-up toaster
  • World population~1.79B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population103.2M

1919 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Walt Hansgen's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19192026
Gas$0.25$3.45/gal
Average home$5,000$435,000
Average income$2,000$67,500
Movie ticket$0.15$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population103.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Racing-Reference, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.