On this date October 28, 1970 Gary Gabelich set a land speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas.

The Blue Flame was the rocket-powered vehicle which achieved the world land speed record on Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on October 28, 1970. The Blue Flame’s record 1014.656 km/h (630.478 mph) lasted until 1983 – for 13 years – and was set as an average of achieved speed in both ways ((629.412 + 631.367)/2= 630.478 mph). The driver, Gary Gabelich, was of Croatian ancestry and native of San Pedro, California.

The Blue Flame was constructed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Reaction Dynamics, a company formed by Pete Farnsworth, Ray Dausman and Dick Keller who had developed hydrogen peroxide rocket dragsters. The Blue Flame used a combination of hydrogen peroxide and liquified natural gas (LNG), pressurized by helium gas to eclipse previous speed records set with jet engine powered vehicles. The effort was sponsored by The American Gas Association, with technical assistance from the Institute of Gas Technology of Des Plaines, IL.

The engine of the Blue Flame was designed by Reaction Dynamics,Inc. and some of the components were manufactured by Galaxy Manufacturing Co. of Tonawanda, New York. Galaxy Mfg. Co. was formed in 1966 by Donald J Magro and Gerald Muhs and was principally engaged in flow control systems, cavitating venturi, and precision machining fields.

source: Wikipedia.org