Jacky Ickx, the first "Mr. Le Mans" - Born on January 1, 1945, Belgian driver Jacky Ickx marked with an indelible imprint the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A winner in three different decades (1969-75-76-77-81-82), with the shortest gap between his first two victories (1969), he is also the first driver to score three consecutive pole positions at Le Mans (1981-82-83), and was the win record-holder from 1981 to 2004. He became "Mr. Le Mans," a title Tom Kristensen had the class not to challenge when he beat Ickx's record in 2005, going on to nine victories by 2013.

World War II in 1945 - Six and a half months after D-Day in Normandy (June 6, 1944), it was precisely in Ickx's native land that played out around the time of his birth one of the key episodes of the end of World War II: the Battle of the Bulge. It began on December 16th with a German offensive, finally quashed on January 25th after a month of combat in freezing temperatures, namely thanks to the breakthrough of U.S. General George S. Patton in Bastogne. From that moment on, the advances made by the Allied troops (from the West) and the Soviet Red Army (from the East) continued all the way to the taking of Berlin and the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8th. On the Pacific front, after the seize of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, the U.S. decided to cut the conflict short by dropping two atomic bombs (Hiroshima on August 6th then Nagasaki on the 9th) on Japan, who surrendered as well on September 2nd.

Ten personalities born in 1945 - Singer Rod Stewart (January 10th), singer Bob Marley (February 6th), guitarist Eric Clapton (March 30th), jazz pianist Keith Jarrett (May 8th), guitarist Pete Townshend (May 19th), Belgian racing cyclist Eddy Merckx (June 17th), Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi (June 19th), German football player Franz Beckenbauer (September 11th), singer Neil Young (November 12th) and Brazilian politician Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, a.k.a. Lula (October 27th).

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRA NCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY & SUNDAY JUNE 13-14 1981. Jacky Ickx on his way to his fifth win, which allowed him to beat the win record held since 1962 by his fellow countryman Olivier Gendebien. He even went on to win a sixth victory in 1982.