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Gary Gabelich

Gary Gabelich, American race car driver (died 1984)

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Born
August 29, 1940
Died
January 26, 1984
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1940

About Gary Gabelich

Gary Michael Gabelich was an American motorsport driver who set the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Land Speed Record (LSR) with the rocket car Blue Flame on October 23, 1970, on a dry lake bed at Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah. Gabelich averaged 629.412 mph (1,013 km/h) on his first run and 631.367 mph (1,016 km/h) on his second run for an average speed of 630.388 mph (1,015 km/h) establishing a new kilometer FIA LSR. Gabelich was part of the cast in the 1977 movie Joyride to Nowhere and he made a documentary, One Second from Eternity: The History of the Land Speed Record in 1971. The mile FIA LSR was the first exceeding 1,000 km/h (621 mph) and remained unbeaten until 1983, when Richard Noble broke it driving Thrust 2.

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

Gary Gabelich timeline

  1. Gabelich was part of the cast in the 1977 movie Joyride to Nowhere and he made a documentary, One Second from Eternity: The History of the Land Speed Record in 1971.
  2. The mile FIA LSR was the first exceeding 1,000 km/h (621 mph) and remained unbeaten until 1983, when Richard Noble broke it driving Thrust 2.

The world when Gary Gabelich was born

Gary Gabelich was born in 1940. 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 1940

  • #1 song"In the Mood" – Glenn Miller
  • Top movieRebecca
  • Best-selling bookFor Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst televised college basketball game
  • Top headlineWinston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister
  • Technology milestoneFirst McDonald's restaurant opens
  • Defining fadSwing music hits its peak
  • Notable inventionJeep (military vehicle)
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championCincinnati Reds (World Series)
  • U.S. population132.2M

1940 versus 2026

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

Measure19402026
Gas$0.18$3.45/gal
Average home$5,300$435,000
Average income$3,100$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population132.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 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.