If you drive, then it's likely you use your rearview mirror each and every time you slide behind the wheel of your car or truck — or at least you should be using it, anyway. But have you ever stopped for a moment to really think about where this clever use of reflective glass originated? Who first had the idea to add a mirror to the interior of a motor car? Well, it just so happens that the first use of a rearview mirror while driving is attributed to a race car driver. A race car driver in a very famous race, nonetheless.
On May 30, 1911, at the inaugural running of the Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis, Ind., driver Ray Harroun drove his Marmon Wasp to victory — alone. Alone in the sense that he didn't have a riding mechanic with him for the entire race, as did every other competitor on that day. The bright yellow Marmon Wasp was streamlined and built for only one man. There was no room for a mechanic. So, in order to keep an eye on the drivers closing in from behind (a job normally handled by the riding mechanic), Harroun found a way to mount a rearward facing mirror to his car. It worked, and Harroun drove to victory in the first-ever Indianapolis 500 race.
Soon after, auto manufacturers began to produce new cars with rearview mirrors as standard safety equipment.
Courtesy of Discovery
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