On this date
In 1889,
some 2,200 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, perished when the South Fork Dam collapsed, sending 20 million tons of water rushing through the town.
In 1935,
movie studio 20th Century Fox was created through a merger of the Fox Film Corp. and Twentieth Century Pictures.
In 1949,
former State Department official and accused spy Alger Hiss went on trial in New York, charged with perjury. (The jury deadlocked, but Hiss was convicted in a second trial.)
In 1962,
former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel a few minutes before midnight for his role in the Holocaust.
In 1977,
the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making despite objections from environmentalists and Alaska Natives, was completed. (The first oil began flowing through the pipeline 20 days later.)
In 1994,
the United States announced it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.
In 2005,
breaking a silence of 30 years, former FBI official W. Mark Felt stepped forward as “Deep Throat,” the secret Washington Post source during the Watergate scandal.
Ten years ago:
Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven blasted into orbit, carrying a giant Japanese lab addition to the international space station.
Five years ago:
A tornado in the Oklahoma City metro area claimed eight lives, including those of storm chasers Tim Samaras, his son, Paul, and Carl Young; 13 people died in flash flooding.
One year ago:
CBS announced that Scott Pelley was being removed as anchor of “The CBS Evening News” after six years.