Betty Skelton (1926–2011)

Betty Skelton, a pioneer in both aviation and auto racing who was once known as the fastest woman on Earth, has died at the age of 85.

Half a century ago she was setting speed records on the sands of Daytona Beach and Utah’s Bonneville salt flats. She was a three-time national aerobatic champion when she became the auto industry’s first female test driver in 1954 and soon began cracking women’s land speed records, taking her Corvette to 145.044 mph at Daytona in 1956, and a jet-powered machine to 315.72 mph at Bonneville in 1965.