May 27, 1923: The 1st 24 Hours of Le Mans

May 26 and 27, 1923: The 1st 24 Hours of Le Mans race is held. There were 33 teams of racers, all of the French except for 2 Belgian teams and 1 British. Under rainy conditions, 30 finished. The winner was the Chenard-Walcker team, with drivers André Lagache and René Léonard, completing 128 laps.

Lagache would be killed in an automotive demonstration in 1938. He was 53 years old. Léonard lived until 1965, age 76.

Le Mans (pronounced "Leh MONZ") is a city of 145,000 people in the Sarthe region of northwestern France, about 130 miles southwest of Paris. The race is held at the Circuit de la Sarthe, measuring 13.626 kilometers (8.467 miles) in length. It is the oldest active endurance racing event in the world.

Unlike fixed-distance races, such as the Indianapolis 500, named for covering 500 miles, whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The cars on this track are able to achieve speeds of 227 miles per hour, with an all-time peak of 253 on the Mulsanne Straight in 1988.

The race is held in mid-June, meaning the shortest night and very hot conditions for drivers, particularly in closed vehicles with poor ventilation. Rainy weather is common. The race begins in mid-afternoon, and finishes the following day, at the same hour the race started the previous day.

Launched when Grand Prix motor racing was the dominant form of motorsport throughout Europe, Le Mans was designed to present a different test. Instead of focusing on the ability of a car company to build the fastest machines, the 24 Hours of Le Mans would concentrate on the ability of manufacturers to build sporty yet reliable cars. This encouraged innovation in producing reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles, because endurance racing requires cars that last, and spend as little time in the pits as possible.

Modern competitors often cover well over 5,000 kilometers -- about 3,107 miles, a distance equivalent to over 6.2 Indy 500s, or 18 times longer than a Formula One Grand Prix. The record is 5,410 kilometers, or 3,360 miles, set in 2010.

Competing teams race in groups called "classes,", or cars of similar specification, while competing simultaneously for outright placing amongst all classes. Originally, the race showcased cars as they were sold to the general public, then called "Sports Cars", in contrast with the specialized racing cars used in Grand Prix motor racing.

Over time, the competing vehicles evolved away from their publicly available road car roots. Today, the race comprises two classes: Prototypes and Grand Touring cars, similar to sports cars sold to the public. These are further broken down into two sub-classes: Constructors' prototypes, privateer prototypes, and two subclasses of GT cars.

Up to 85 percent of the lap time is spent on full throttle, putting immense stress on engine and drivetrain components. Additionally, the times spent reaching maximum speed also mean tremendous wear on the brakes and suspension, as cars must slow from over 200 to 60 miles per hour for the sharp corner at the village of Mulsanne. The stadium has a seating capacity of around 100,000, and includes a museum dedicated to the race.

In 1924, Frank Clement, the lone British driver from the inaugural race the year before, become the 1st non-French driver to win it, teamed with John Duff of Canada, making him the 1st non-European to win it. The 1928 race was won by a team of Woolf Barnato of Britain and Bernard Rubin of Australia, making Rubin the 1st winner from the Southern Hemisphere.

The race was not run from 1940 to 1948, due to World War II and reconstruction. Luigi Chinetti of Italy had been a part of winning two-man teams in 1932 and 1934. He became an American citizen, and, in 1949, he teamed with British driver Peter Mitchell-Thomson to win. The 1st American-born driver on a winning team was Phil Hill, who won with Belgian driver Olivier Gendebien in 1958. In 1967, A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney became the 1st All-American team to win. Tom Kristensen, of Denmark, has won the race more than any other driver, 9 times between 1997 and 2013.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 form the Triple Crown of Motorsport. No driver has come close to winning all 3 in one year, and only one driver has even won all 3 in a career: Graham Hill. The Londoner won Monaco 5 times between 1936 and 1969, Indy in 1966, and Le Mans in 1972.

Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring form the Triple Crown of Endurance Racing. This has also never been done in a single year, but 10 drivers have won all 3 in a career, the 1st being Hans Herrmann of Germany in 1970. Three Americans have done it: Hurley Haywood in 1977, Foyt in 1985, and Al Holbert in 1986.

Foyt remains the only driver to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.

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May 27, 1923 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 8-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Babe Ruth went 1-for-4 with a walk. Bob Meusel hit a home run. Sad Sam Jones went the distance for the win.

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-4 at the Polo Grounds. Frankie Frisch, Ross Youngs and Heinie Groh each had 3 hits for the Giants.

* The Brooklyn Robins (as the Dodgers were known while Wilbert Robinson was their manager from 1914 to 1931) beat the Boston Braves, 6-5 at Ebbets Field. Zack Wheat went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Redland Field (later Crosley Field) in Cincinnati. Rogers Hornsby did not play for the Cardinals.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-0 at Navin Field (later Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Harry "Rip" Collins pitched a 5-hit shutout. Ty Cobb, by this point also the Tigers' manager, went 3-for-5 with an RBI. For the White Sox, Eddie Collins went 1-for-3.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Cubs Park (later Wrigley Field) in Chicago.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Tris Speaker, by this point also the Indians' manager, went 0-for-4. George Sisler did not play for the Browns.

* And the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics were not scheduled -- because playing professional sports on Sundays was still illegal in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, respectively.