Five-time Argentine Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio is kidnapped by rebels involved in the Cuban Revolution, on the eve of the Cuban Grand Prix. He was released the following day after the race.

Formula One

Motorsport championship held worldwide

Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the world's premier forms of motorsport since its…

List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions

Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and cars must conform.…

Juan Manuel Fangio

Argentine racing driver (1911–1995)

Juan Manuel Fangio was an Argentine racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1958. Nicknamed "el Chueco" and "el Maestro", Fangio won five Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most wins (24), pole…

Cuban Revolution

1955–58 armed rebellion against the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro

The Cuban Revolution was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew the emerging Cuban democracy and…

Cuban Grand Prix

Grand prix

The Cuban Grand Prix, also known as the Havana Grand Prix, was a sports car motor race held for a brief period in the late 1950s in Havana, Cuba, last raced in 1960. The 1958 race is best remembered as the backdrop to the kidnapping of Formula One World Champion driver Juan…

February 23

Day of the year

February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 311 days remain until the end of the year.