December 3rd, 2008

Today in History

1984:
Bhopal Disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures anywhere from 150,000 to 600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.

1971:
Pakistan launches airstrikes on Indian airfields. Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins as India retaliates with a massive invasion of East Pakistan.

1929:
Great Depression: US President Herbert Hoover announces to U.S. Congress that the worst effects of the recent stock market crash are behind the nation and the American people have regained faith in the economy.

1904:
The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at Lick Observatory.

1854:
Eureka Stockade: More than twenty goldminers at Ballarat, Australia were killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences. Claimed by many to be the birth of Australian democracy.