It happened in Kansas City, in May of 1901, on a clear day. The only two cars in the entire town collided head-on. They collided because the only two drivers in town decided to play that city’s first game of “chicken.” Nobody was hurt. The cars were pulled apart and continued on their way. One of the passengers, Dr. Eugene Carbaugh, was thrown over the curved dash of the Locomobile and hung there, his belt caught on a carbide lantern. The passenger in the other car, a horse-raiser who disliked automobiles, Ray Oliver, was thrown to the pavement and was heard to mutter as he picked himself up and dusted himself off, “I told you the damn’ thing would do it.”

AOWM – March 23