Cannonball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Cannonball can be:

• The ammunition for a cannon.
• Experiment 520, a comic figure
• Erwin G. "Cannon Ball" Baker, (1882-1960), who travelled across the USA several times. Baker crossed the USA from coast to coast on a motorcycle in 1914, west to east, which took him over 11 days. He bettered this several times, until in 1933, he needed less than 54 hours to drive from New York to Los Angeles, at an average speed of nearly 60 mph, using large parts of the new Route 66. This earned him the nickname Cannon Ball.
• In the 1970s, despite much better cars and roads, a general speed limit of 55 mph was introduced. Brock Yates of Car and Driver magazine introduced the Cannonball Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash to protest against the speed limit. The first race was won by him and former race driver, Formula One and Le Mans winner Dan Gurney in a Ferrari. It took them 35 hours, 53 minutes to drive from New York to LA.
• Later on, several movies (starring Burt Reynolds and others) were made based on the real events during some of the Cannonball events. These movies include:
  • Cannonball (1976)
  • The Gumball Rally (1976)
  • The Cannonball Run (1981)
  • Cannonball Run II (1984)
  • Speed Zone!
• A 2001 American television program, Cannonball Run 2001
• A Canadian made TV series about two truck drivers, produced in 1958-59 and syndicated in the U.S. in 1959-60.