Henry Bliss becomes the first American to be killed by an automobile - September 13th, 1899

On this day in 1899, Henry Hale Bliss was fatally struck by a taxicab.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a
show that proves there's more than one way to make history.
I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, we're talking about
one of the darker outcomes of the Industrial Revolution, a

(00:23):
higher mortality rate for pedestrians brought about by the automobile.
The day was September thirteenth, eighteen ninety nine. Henry Hale
Bliss was fatally struck by a taxi cab, granting him
the dubious distinction of being the first person in the

(00:46):
United States to be killed by an automobile. The tragic
incident sparked a flurry of debate over road safety in
American cities, as well as the growing need for motor
vehicle regulation, issues that remained just as relevant as ever
at the time of his death. On the evening of
September thirteenth, Henry Bliss was a sixty eight year old

(01:08):
real estate salesman living in Manhattan. According to witnesses, he
had just disembarked from a streetcar at the intersection of
West seventy fourth Street and Central Park West, but instead
of moving away from the trolley, he turned back toward
it to help a young woman down the steps. That
act of chivalry turned out to be Bliss's undoing, as

(01:30):
in that moment he was hit by a passing taxi
and knocked unconscious on the pavement. The passenger in that
cab was doctor David Or Edson, who happened to be
the son of former New York City mayor Franklin Edson.
The doctor tried to assist Bliss until the ambulance arrived,
but unfortunately, neither his medical skills nor his political connections

(01:53):
were of any use to the injured realtor. The blow
from the taxi had crushed Bliss's skull and check, and
by the time he arrived at the hospital he was
deemed too badly injured to survive. Henry Bliss succumbed to
his injuries a few hours later, marking the first time
in US history that a human was killed by a car.

(02:15):
Bliss's death came thirty years after the first known automobile
fatality in world history, that of Irish scientist Mary Ward,
who died in eighteen sixty nine after being run over
by a steam powered car built by her own cousins.
The car that killed Bliss, on the other hand, was
an electric powered vehicle. It was driven by Arthur Smith,

(02:38):
a cabby for New York's Electric Vehicle company. Smith claimed
he had swerved close to the trolley to avoid hitting
a large truck, and that he hadn't seen mister Bliss
until it was too late to stop. He was arrested
and charged with manslaughter, but was later acquitted at trial
after the judge determined that there was no malice or

(02:58):
negligence on Smith. The death of Henry Bliss made headlines
nationwide and cemented many people's belief that horseless carriages were
too dangerous to operate alongside pedestrians. The ensuing conversations gradually
led to stricter traffic laws for motor vehicles, but more
than a century later, it's now more dangerous than ever

(03:21):
to walk the streets of America. In fact, twenty twenty
two saw the highest number of pedestrian deaths in forty
one years, with more than seventy five hundred people struck
and killed by vehicles. That's the equivalent of more than
twenty deaths each day. Most of those fatalities go unnoticed

(03:41):
by the general public, but in New York City, there's
a permanent reminder of the one that started at all.
In nineteen ninety nine, on the one hundredth anniversary of
Henry Bliss's death, a safety awareness group placed a memorial
plaque at the intersection where he was struck. The sign
was erected, as it says, to remember mister Bliss on

(04:02):
the centennial of his untimely death and to promote safety
on our streets and highways. According to The New York Times,
the dedication ceremony was attended by three great granddaughters of
Henry Bliss. The women placed pink and red roses on
the spot where the collision occurred, a loving tribute to
the country's first pedestrian fatality, the first, but far from

(04:27):
the last. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know
a little more about history today than you did yesterday.
You can learn even more about history by following us
on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and
if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to

(04:48):
pass them along by writing to this day at iHeartMedia
dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show,
and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here
again tomorrow for another day in history class,