September 3: Land Speed Records, Cheese Toast & a Flag

Some days sneak into history quietly. September 3 kicked down the door doing 300 miles per hour with a plate of cheese toast. Let's take a spin.

The Man Who Refused to Slow Down

In 1935, on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, British racing motorist Malcolm Campbell became the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph (480 km/h). Three hundred miles per hour. In 1935. When most cars considered 40 mph a bold personality choice. Campbell essentially looked at a giant salt pancake, said "this'll do," and made every future speeding ticket in history feel a little unimaginative.

Rewind further to 1901, and at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, the flag of Australia flew for the first time. Fittingly, September 3 is now Flag Day in Australia — proof that if you want a nation to remember something, put it on a very handsome piece of fabric.

Happy Birthday to a Supermodel and a Rapper

The September 3 birthday club skews young and photogenic. In 2001, Kaia Gerber was born — American model and actress, and living evidence that genetics occasionally just decides to show off. That same era gave us Rich Brian in 1999, the Indonesian rapper and singer who went from viral internet oddity to legitimately respected artist, a career arc that shouldn't work but absolutely did.

And in 1996, Joy of South Korean group Red Velvet was born, because September 3 apparently signs talent the way other days sign up for gym memberships and never go.

National Welsh Rarebit Day (a.k.a. Fancy Cheese Toast)

Now for the observance we've all been quietly waiting for: it's National Welsh Rarebit Day in the United States. For the uninitiated, Welsh rarebit is a glorious cheese sauce poured over toast — a dish that sounds like it should contain rabbit, contains zero rabbit, and has been fooling dinner guests for centuries.

It's the kind of food that tastes like a warm hug and looks like you tried, even though you basically melted cheese onto bread. Honestly, it belongs on this holiday roster right next to land-speed records — both are proof that humans will pursue greatness in wildly different directions.

So whether you're chasing 300 mph, waving a flag, or just building the world's most respectable cheese toast, September 3 is quietly one of the most fun days on the calendar. Celebrate accordingly. Preferably with cheese.