Segrave, Sir Henry (1896-1930), was an American-born British hero of the early days of motor racing. He broke the world land-speed record three times—in 1926, 1927, and 1929. He reached 231.44 miles (372.47 kilometers) an hour in 1929 at Daytona Beach, Florida. Segrave was killed on June 13, 1930, while raising the world water-speed record to 98.76 miles (158.94 kilometers) an hour on Lake Windermere in England. The Segrave Trophy, given to the Briton who best showed the possibilities of transport by land, air, or water, was named for him.
Henry O’Neal de Hane Segrave was born on Sept. 22, 1896, in Baltimore He was educated in England and served in the Royal Air Force in World War I (1914-1918). Segrave became interested in automobile racing during the war. He began racing speedboats in 1927. He wrote The Lure of Speed (1928). Segrave was knighted in 1929.
