December 3rd, 2008

Today in History

1982:
A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri that would be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.

1973:
Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.

1964:
Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and massive sit-in at the administration building protesting the UC Regents' decision to forbid Vietnam War protests on UC property.

1917:
After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic (the bridge partially collapsed on August 29, 1907 and September 11, 1916).

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.