In London, Parliament passes the world's first speed limits on public roads

The British Parliament passes the Locomotive Act of 1865, setting speed limits for any locomotive operating of public roads.  Considered the world's first such limits, they applied to steam driven vehicles, like tractors, but would also be applied later to automobiles of any kind. Vehicles were limited to four miles an hour on public roads, two miles per hour in towns, and a man with a red flag was required to walk ahead sixty yards at all times. A new act adjusted these restrictions in 1878. (By John Osborne)