November 15, 1965
Californian Craig Breedlove, sets a new land-speed record of 600.601 miles per hour, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, driving his car, the Spirit of America, which cost $250,000 and is powered by a surplus engine from a Navy jet.
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He actually drove across the desert twice that day, since international world-record rules require a car to make two timed one-mile runs in one hour; officials log the average speed of the two trips. During his first trip, Breedlove zoomed across the flats at 593.178 mph; during his second, the first time any person had officially gone faster than 600 mph, he managed to push the car up to 608.201 mph. "That 600 is about a thousand times better than 599," he said afterward. "Boy, it's a great feeling."