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Births on March 12

Johnny Rutherford
1938Mar, 12

Johnny Rutherford

Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver and sportscaster
John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 314 starts. He became one of ten drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 at least three times, winning in 1974, 1976, and 1980. He also won the CART championship in 1980.

Rutherford began racing modified stock cars in 1959 and he also dabbled in stock car racing, making 35 NASCAR Cup Series starts from 1963 to 1988. Rutherford won in his first start, at Daytona International Speedway driving for Smokey Yunick. This made him one of the youngest drivers ever to win in NASCAR history, in a full points-paying NASCAR race.

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Events on 1938

  • 18Feb

    Nanking Massacre

    Second Sino-Japanese War: During the Nanking Massacre the Nanking Safety Zone International Committee is renamed "Nanking International Rescue Committee" and the safety zone in place for refugees falls apart.
  • 12Mar

    Austria

    Anschluss: German troops occupy and absorb Austria.
  • 23Sep

    Munich Agreement

    Mobilization of the Czechoslovak army in response to the Munich Agreement.
  • 30Sep

    Munich Agreement

    Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, allowing Germany to occupy the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
  • 30Oct

    The War of the Worlds (radio drama)

    Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States.