It was on this day in 1980 that Mount St. Helens, a volcano in Washington, erupted. The resulting damage was unprecedented for volcanic activity in the US. 250 homes were destroyed and over 55 people killed. Many miles of railways and highways were also wiped out, with over 45 bridges annihilated. Words alone can’t describe the might of the eruption; click here for a video.
The first event that Wiki mentions that happened on this day is “332 – Constantine the Great announced free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople” and the most recent is “2009 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.“
Some other things that also happened are:
1896 – The US Supreme Court rules that the “separate but equal” in regards to public schools is constitutional.
1897 – Dracula is published.
1974 – India becomes the sixth nation to join the “nuclear club” after a successful test of their first bomb.
Happy birthday to Tina Fey, George Strait, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Bill Wallace.