September 14, 1899

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Joel Byers

On This Date in TWISTED-HISTORY.com in 1899, Henry Hale Bliss, 69 years of age, became the first known person in America to be killed in an automobile accident. The elderly Mr. Bliss had just exited from a streetcar in New York City when an electric taxi being driven by Arthur Smith stuck and killed him. The horse driven carriage taxis of New York immediately protested and said that automobiles were dangerous and more deaths were sure to occur. Proponents of the automobile stated that this was just an unlucky occurrence, as there would never be enough automobiles on the roads for these types of deaths to become commonplace, but that people would always have to be cautious where they stepped on the streets of New York because of all the horse poo that littered the roads and more people who slip and fall to their deaths on horse poo than ever would be hit and killed by the new technology of cars.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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