Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Clarence "Pappy" Hoel founded the Jackpine Gypsies motorcycle club and held the first rally — then called the Black Hills Motor Classic — on August 14, 1938. The club still owns and operates the tracks and hillclimb where the rally is centered. What began as racing and stunts now draws around 500,000 people annually, with attendance topping 700,000 in 2015. The event runs 10 days each August and generates roughly $800 million for South Dakota's economy.