December 3rd, 2008

Today in History

1901:
US President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representatives asking Congress curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".

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

1818:
Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state

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.