Camille Jenatzy was a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 race car driver

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...

. He is known for breaking the land speed record

Land speed record

The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...

 three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier.
He was nicknamed Le Diable Rouge ("The Red Devil") after the colour of his beard .

On 17 January 1899 at Achères, Yvelines

Achères, Yvelines

Achères is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. It is located from the center of Paris.The commune of Achères lies on the south bank of the Seine in a loop of the river, on the edge of the Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye...

 near Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, he reached the speed of 66.66 km/h (41.42 mph) over the kilometer, driving a CGA Dogcart. That same day, the record was broken by Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat

Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat

Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat was a French race car driver. He is known for setting the first recognised automobile land speed record on December 18, 1898 in Achères, Yvelines, using a Jeantaud electric car....

, topped on 27 January 1899 when Jenatzy achieved 80.35 km/h (49.93 mph). This record was again broken by Chasseloup-Laubat, who applied rudimentary streamlining to his Jeantaud

Jeantaud

The Jeantaud was a French automobile manufactured in Paris from 1893 until 1906. It was the brainchild of Charles Jeantaud, a coachbuilder who built his first electric carriage in 1881. Among the vehicles he constructed was the first car to set a land speed record , as well as coupes and hansom...

. Jenatzy replied with his third and final land speed record on 29 April 1899, reaching 105.88 km/h (65.79 mph) in the electric CITA Nº 25 La Jamais Contente

La Jamais Contente

La Jamais Contente was the first vehicle to go over . It was an electric vehicle with a light alloy torpedo shaped bodywork and with Fulmen batteries. The high position of the driver and the exposed chassis underneath spoiled much of the aerodynamics...

, the first record over 100 km/h (60 mph).

In 1902, he lost the land speed record to Leon Serpollet

Gardner-Serpollet

Gardner-Serpollet was a French manufacturer of steam-powered cars in the early 1900s.In 1896, Leon Serpollet invented and perfected the flash boiler, which made steam a much more practical source of power for an automobile...

. Jenatzy regained the record in 1903, winning the Gordon Bennet Cup

Gordon Bennett Cup in auto racing

As one of three Gordon Bennett Cups established by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., millionaire owner of the New York Herald, the automobile racing award was first given in 1900 in France....

 in Athy

Athy

The town developed from a 12th century Anglo-Norman settlement to an important British military outpost on the border of the Pale.The first town charter dates from the 16th century and the town hall was constructed in the early 18th century...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, at the wheel of a Mercedes

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

, the same year.

Jenatzy died in 1913 in a hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

 accident. He went behind a bush and made animal noises as a prank on his friends who were hunting with him. It worked too well, they heard the noise and one of them, Alfred Madoux, director of the journal L'Etoile Belge,
fired, believing it was a wild animal. When they realised it was Jenatzy, they rushed him to hospital by car; he bled to death en route, fulfilling his own prophecy he would die in a Mercedes. He is buried at the Laeken Cemetery

Laeken Cemetery

The Laeken Cemetery , located in Laeken in the northern part of Brussels, is one of the major cemeteries in Belgium.-Description:...

 in Brussels.

ReferencesMinecraft

Minecraft

Minecraft is a sandbox-building independent video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released as an alpha on May 17, 2009, with a beta version on December 20, 2010...