Disasters
Why Did the Hindenburg Explode?
When the giant German dirigible Hindenburg burst into flames over Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, it left 36 dead, a pile of charred wreckage and one enduring mystery: What could have caused the horrific disaster? Even before the ashes had cooled, rumors were flying. ...read more
7 of the Most Devastating US Plane Crashes
Aviation accidents are so rare that they naturally make front-page news. Some plane crashes, however, have left lasting imprints due to their unique circumstances or indelible images. Although not the deadliest in American history, these seven plane crashes are among the most ...read more
7 of History's Most Devastating Bridge Collapses
Although bridges are among history’s greatest feats of engineering—andin rare cases they have unexpectedly and catastrophically failed due to structural deficiencies, weather conditions or too much weight. These seven collapses are among history’s deadliest bridge disasters. ...read more
Fukushima Timeline: How an Earthquake Triggered Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Disaster
The 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was the worst nuclear event since the meltdown at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union 25 years prior. It started with an earthquake. It resulted in 465,000 evacuations, $360 billion in economic losses and increased ...read more
Titanic by the Numbers: From Construction to Disaster to Discovery
It took just two hours and 40 minutes for the “unsinkable” RMS Titanic to sink. The much-heralded ocean liner, on its glamorous five-day maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City, headed out across the Atlantic on April 10, 1912, counting among its passengers the ...read more
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the Apollo Space program (1961-1975) and was supposed to be the third lunar landing mission, but the three astronauts aboard never reached the moon. Instead the crew and ground control team scrambled through a hair-raising ...read more
How a Trio of Hellish Earthquakes Prompted America’s First Disaster Relief Act
In the early hours of December 16, 1811, the residents of New Madrid, a Mississippi River town once part of the Louisiana Territory, rushed from their homes as the ground rolled beneath their feet. Trees were uprooted and thrown to the ground. Huge chasms opened in the earth, ...read more
Riot erupts at Lima, Peru soccer match, killing hundreds
A referee’s call in a soccer match between Peru and Argentina sparks a riot on May 24, 1964. More than 300 fans were killed and another 500 people were injured in the violent melee that followed at National Stadium in Lima, Peru. The match was a qualifier for the 1964 Olympics ...read more
Gas leak kills 23 at plastics factory
On October 23, 1989, 23 people die in a series of explosions sparked by an ethylene leak at a factory in Pasadena, Texas. The blasts, which took place at a Phillips Petroleum Company plant, were caused by inadequate safety procedures. A polyethylene reactor at the Phillips 66 ...read more
Truck explosion kills 3,000 in Afghanistan
On November 2, 1982, a truck explodes in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing an estimated 3,000 people, mostly Soviet soldiers traveling to Kabul. The Soviet Union’s military foray into Afghanistan was disastrous by nearly every measure, but perhaps the worst single ...read more
Chernobyl: 7 People Who Played a Crucial Role in the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster
When the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded in the early hours of April 26, 1986—precipitating the worst nuclear disaster in history—it resulted almost entirely from human factors. As the real history of that fateful event continues to be revealed, those ...read more
The Shocking River Fire That Fueled the Creation of the EPA
Fires were nothing out of the ordinary on Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River in the 1960s. The city was still a manufacturing hub and the river, which empties into Lake Erie, had long been a dumping place for sewage and industrial waste. But on June 22, 1969, a spark flared from the ...read more
The Deadliest Tornado in U.S. History Blindsided the Midwest in 1925
Overturned trains. Timber found miles away from where it had been stored. Trees felled. Fires and close calls. A letter that flew almost 100 miles. On a normal day in the Midwest in 1925, any one of these stories would have been worthy of front-page coverage. But March 18, 1925 ...read more
The Monster Blizzard That Turned Kansas Into a Frozen Wasteland
As the stage coach drove up to Camp Supply, its passengers must have felt relieved. They’d been caught in a storm, and the coach’s horses had lost their path in the Kansas snow. Finally, the coach arrived at Camp Supply, a military outpost in Indian Territory in what is now ...read more
Great Boston Molasses Flood
Fiery hot molasses floods the streets of Boston on January 15, 1919, killing 21 people and injuring scores of others. The molasses burst from a huge tank at the United States Industrial Alcohol Company building in the heart of the city. Listen to HISTORY This Week Podcast: The ...read more
How the 1966 Aberfan Mine Disaster Became Elizabeth II's Biggest Regret
The avalanche raced down a steep hill in Aberfan, Wales, sucking everything in its path into the chaos: landscape, buildings, an entire schoolhouse. When David Evans, the owner of a local pub, heard about it from a neighbor, he ran into the street. “Everything was so quiet, so ...read more
The Worst Time in History to Be Alive, According to Science
The ninth plague of Egypt was complete darkness that lasted for three days. But in 536 A.D., much of the world went dark for a full 18 months, as a mysterious fog rolled over Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia. The fog blocked the sun during the day, causing temperatures ...read more
The 2004 Tsunami Wiped Away Towns With 'Mind-Boggling' Destruction
It was 2004, the day after Christmas, and thousands of European and American tourists had flocked to the beaches of Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia to escape the winter chill in a tropical paradise. At 7:59 AM, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake—one of the largest ...read more
World War II-Era Flood Was the Worst in D.C.'s History
While Allied troops were fighting World War II in the Pacific, the U.S. homefront was defending Washington, D.C. from the worst flood it’d ever seen. “Spare no effort or expense to protect the Capital,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt told officials during the flood of October ...read more
How the Design of the World Trade Center Claimed Lives on 9/11
I heard whooshing sounds… One of the most vivid pictures I have of the day is this waterfall of fire falling down. It was raining fire inside the elevator bank… I yelled ‘Stairs! Follow me!’ I turned right and just started running. —Neil Lucente, then-employee of Network Plus, ...read more
5 of History's Most Dramatic Rescues
It took 18 days and the efforts of dozens of divers and rescue personnel, but 12 boys and their soccer coach were finallyrescued from the cave complex where they were trapped by floods during Thailand’s monsoon season. Here are five other dramatic rescues that were just as ...read more
The Deadliest Natural Disasters in U.S. History
Mother Nature can be merciless. From the churning hurricanes of the Gulf Coast, to the trailer-tossing storms of Tornado Alley, to the ground-pounding quakes of California, the United States is no stranger to deadly natural disasters. Here are five of the worst natural disasters ...read more
The Flint water crisis begins
On April 25, 2014 officials from Flint, Michigan switched the city’s water supply to the Flint River as a cost-cutting measure for the struggling city. In doing so, they unwittingly introduced lead-poisoned water into homes, in what would become a massive public-health crisis. ...read more