November 19th, 2008

Today in History

461:
St. Hilarius becomes Pope.

1984:
A series of explosions at the PEMEX petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City ignites a major fire and kills about 500 people.

1598:
An outnumbered Korean and Ming navy ambush and defeat a Japanese army at the Battle of Noryang Point.

1881:
A meteorite lands near the village of Großliebenthal, southwest of Odessa, Ukraine.

2004:
The largest brawl in the history of American professional sports breaks out between fans and NBA players during a game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers. The melee is instigated after an altercation between Detroit's Ben Wallace and Indiana's Ron Artest when a fan throws a cup of beer and hits Artest in the chest.