Photo of the day: Donald Campbell with Bluebird K7

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Written by Stephen Dobie
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January 4 1967 is a notable date in the history of world speed records. It"s the day Donald Campbell - a holder of both land and water speed records in his life - succumbed to his attempt to top 300mph in Bluebird K7.In fact, he had become the first person in the world to travel above 300mph on water, touching almost 330mph. Sadly, his record attempt was halted by a dramatic somersault that took K7 and its skipper below the water. Neither were seen again until they were recovered to the surface of the Lake District"s Coniston Water in 2001.Donald set records at a time when they were headline news the world over, and those who broke them were the heroes of schoolboys and girls. And his fatal attempt to top 300mph wasn"t merely to break his own record in the venerable K7; it was to raise publicity for his project to top 800mph on land with a car called Bluebird CN8.

Date written: 4 Jan 2017

More of this article on the Top gear website

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