Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire
(Camp Fire/Credit: NASA)
November 8, 2018: The Camp Fire in Butte County, California is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, and the most destructive wildfire in the United States in a century. The same day, a destructive fire in Southern California spread rapidly through Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Read morePittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
(Credit: CTO Henry; wiki commons)
October 27, 2018: Considered the deadliest attach on the Jewish community to take place in the United States in history, a gunman opened fire while Shabbat morning services and a bris were being held.
Read moreOctober 2018 Mail Bombing Attempts
(Credit: FBI)
October 22, 2018: Over the course of a week, a total of 15 packages containing improvised explosive devices were sent to several prominent critics of President Trump. Fortunately, none of the packages exploded outside of a controlled setting.
Read moreHurricane Michael
(Mexico Beach, FL aftermath / Credit: NOAA)
October 10, 2018: Hurricane Michael–with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph–made landfall as a Category 4, becoming the first to do so in the region.
Read moreHurricane Florence
(Credit: USNPS)
September 14, 2018: The slow-moving Category 1 hurricane “Florence” caused widespread damage and flooding, even inundating inland cities as major rivers all spilled over their banks.
Read more2018 California Wildfires
(Credit: CAL FIRE)
February 18, 2018: A combination of low humidity, wind, and extremely dry conditions led to a particularly active year for wildfires in California. A state of emergency was declared on August 4, 2018.
Read moreStoneman Douglas High School Shooting
(Credit: formulanone/ wiki commons user)
February 14, 2018: At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the city of Parkland, Florida, 19 year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on both students and faculty, killing more than a dozen.
Read moreThomas Fire
(Credit: NASA)
December 4, 2017: A quick-moving wildfire began north of Santa Paula, CA south of Thomas Aquinas College, and burns over 280,000+ acres, becoming the largest wildfire in California history.
Read moreNew York Truck Attack
(Credit: Gh9449, Own work)
October 31, 2017: Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov drove down a crowded bicycle and pedestrian path near the World Trade Center in Manhatten, New York. He drove on the pathway for several blocks, striking numerous people.
Read moreTubbs Fire
(Credit: Phoenix7777/wiki commons)
October 8, 2017: A fast-growing fire broke out near Tubbs Lane in Calistoga, CA and would continue to burn for 23 days, becoming the most destructive wildfire in California history.
Read moreLas Vegas Shooting
(Credit: Mariordo)
October 1, 2017: Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, fired hundreds of rifle rounds from his suite on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel on a crowd of 22,000 concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, leaving 58 people dead and 546 injured.
Read moreHurricane Maria
(Credit: Lee Snyder)
September 19, 2017: The category 4 hurricane “Maria” caused widespread devastation to Puerto Rico’s transportation, agriculture, communication and energy infrastructure.
Read moreHurricane Irma
(Credit: J.T. BLATTY / FEMA)
September 10, 2017: “Irma” made landfall as a category 4 hurricane at Cudjoe Key, Florida after devastating the U.S. Virgin Islands – St. John and St. Thomas – as a category 5 storm.
Read moreSoda Springs, ID Sequence Earthquakes
(Credit: USGS)
September 2, 2017: following a magnitude 5.3 earthquake east of Soda Springs, Idaho was a sustained and highly active sequence of aftershocks.
Read moreHurricane Harvey
(Credit: 1st Lt. Allegra Boutch)
August 25, 2017: “Harvey” made landfall as a category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas causing widespread damage. Extreme rainfall produced historic flooding across Houston and surrounding areas.
Read moreCharlottesville Rally Protest
(Credit: Brennan Gilmore/wikicommons user)
August 11-12, 2017: Prior to an Alt-Right rally, a man drove his car into a crowd of protesters, killing one person and injuring 19 more.
Read moreNew York and New Jersey Bombings
(Credit: FBI)
September 17, 2016: Ahmad Rahami conducted two bombings and attempted additional bombings in various locations in New York City and New Jersey on September 17, 2016, and September 18, 2016.
Read morePulse Nightclub Shooting
(Credit: White House, David Lienemann)
June 12, 2016: Omar Mir Seddique Mateen began shooting patrons inside Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Forty-nine people were killed; 53 were wounded.
Western/Southeast Wildfires – Summer/Fall 2016
(Credit: National Park Service)
June-December 2016: Drought conditions contributed to an active wildfire season with over 5.0 million acres burned nationally. A devastating firestorm impacted Gatlinburg, Tennessee when hurricane-force wind gusts in extremely dry conditions created volatile wildfire behavior.
Read moreOPM Data Breach
Western and Alaskan Wildfires – Summer/Fall 2015
(Credit: CDC)
June-November 2015: Wildfires burned over 10.1 million acres across the U.S. in 2015, surpassing 2006 for the highest annual total of U.S. acreage burned since record-keeping began in 1960.
Read moreSouth Napa, CA Earthquake
(Credit: Erol Kalkan/ US Geological Survey)
August 24, 2014: A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit in South Napa, California. It was the largest earthquake to hit the San Francisco Bay Area in 25 years.
Read more2014 Fort Hood Shooting
(Credit: U.S. Army/Sgt. Mikki L. Sprenkle)
April 2, 2014: Ivan Antonio Lopez-Lopez began shooting inside an administrative office on the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas. The active-duty soldier then moved from one location to another, firing inside and outside buildings. Three soldiers were killed; 12 were wounded. — FBI, Active Shooter Incidents
Flint Water Crisis
(Credit: Ray Crayton/ USAF)
April 2014: Flint, MI loses access to safe, reliable drinking water when the city switched its water source from Lake Huron to Flint River, which has been found contaminated with high concentrations of lead.
Read moreOso Landslide
(Credit: Jonathan Godt, USGS)
March 22, 2014: Four miles east of Oso, Washington, a massive landslide claimed 43 lives, and destroyed 49 homes and other structures.
Read moreNavy Yard Shooting
(Credit: Tim Evanson)
West Fertilizer Company Fire and Explosion
(Credit: CSB)
April 17, 2013: The fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Company (WFC) in West, Texas was described as “one of the most destructive incidents ever investigated by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).”
Boston Marathon Bombings
April 15, 2013: At the annual Boston Marathon, 282 people were injured and four were killed, including an MIT police officer, when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the crowded finish line.
Sandy Hook School Shooting
(Credit: Aviano AFB)
December 14, 2012: In the space of several minutes, Adam Lanza killed 20 elementary school children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The tragic event heightened growing concerns about school security and gun control laws.
Read moreHurricane Sandy
(Credit: NASA/GSFC/William Putman)
October 22, 2013: “Superstorm Sandy” formed off a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea. It would end up killing 233 people over the span of eight countries, with 159 deaths in the U.S. alone. Total damages resulting from the storm exceeded $70 billion.
Read moreBenghazi Attack
(Credit: Senior Airman Steele C.G. Britton/ USAF)
September 11, 2012: the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya was attacked by members of Ansar al-Sharia. The group launched a mortar attack at a CIA annex the next morning, approximately one mile away.
Read more2012 U.S. Drought/Heatwave
January-December 2012: The 2012 drought is the most extensive drought to affect the U.S. since the 1930s. Moderate to extreme drought conditions affected more than half the country for a majority of 2012.
Mineral, VA Earthquake
(Credit: USNPS)
August 23, 2011: A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck near Mineral, Virginia. It was the largest earthquake in the eastern U.S. since 1944.
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EF-5 Tornado – Joplin, MO
(Credit: Jace Anderson/FEMA)
May 22, 2011: An EF-5 tornado devastated the city of Joplin, MO, leaving an estimated 157 people dead. It is the deadliest single tornado since modern record-keeping began in 1950 and is ranked as the 7th deadliest in U.S. history.
Read more2011 Tornado Super Outbreak
(Credit: Amanda L. Hill, NOAA)
April 25-28, 2011: An outbreak of 362 tornadoes occurred over just four days, surpassing the previous record for all of April by nearly 100, but also accounting for almost half of the confirmed tornadoes during the month. (On This Day: 2011 Tornado Super Outbreak).
Read moreSan Bruno Pipeline Explosion
(Credit: MisterOh/wiki user)
September 9, 2010: A PG&E pipeline ruptured and exploded in the Crestmoor residential neighborhood of San Bruno, CA.
Read moreDeepwater Horizon Oil Spill
(Credit: U.S. Coast Guard)
April 20, 2010: The Deepwater Horizon Macondo oil well drilling platform explodes and starts the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history. Millions of barrels of oil is released into the Gulf of Mexico over a span of 87 days.
Read moreUpper Big Branch Mine Disaster
(Credit: Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin)
April 5, 2010: A coal mine located in Montcoal, West Virginia suffers a massive coal dust explosion started as a methane ignition.
Read moreAustin Plane Crash
(Credit: Jasleen Kaur)
February 18, 2010: Andrew Joseph Stack deliberately flew his small single engine aircraft into the Echelon I office building which housed an IRS office in Austin, Texas.
Read moreTennessee Ash Spill
(Credit: Tennessee Valley Authority)
December 22, 2008: an ash pond dike broke, which released 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash. The spill covered over 300 acres of Watts Bar Reservoir.
Read moreI-35 Bridge Collapse
(Credit: Clindberg/Flikr user)
August 1, 2007: The Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis, MN collapses into the river with no warning. Approximately 120 vehicles went down with the 40-year old bridge, including a school bus full of children.
Read moreWestern Wildfires – Summer 2007
(Credit: NASA)
June-August 2007: Drought conditions and high winds over much of the western U.S. resulted in numerous wildfires. National acreage burned exceeded 8.9 million acres, and over 3,000 homes and structures were destroyed in southern California alone.
Read moreVirginia Tech Shooting
(Credit: Eric Draper/White House)
April 16, 2007: “Seung Hui Cho began shooting in a dormitory at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Two-and-a-half hours later, he chained the doors shut in a classroom building and began shooting at the students and faculty inside.
Hurricane Katrina
(Credit: Lt Cdr. Mark Moran, NOAA Corps)
August 25-31, 2005: Hurricane Katrina created a path of destruction across southern Florida, and caused devastation into parts of southeast Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Read moreCalifornia Fire Siege 2003
(Senior Master Sgt. Dennis W. Goff/USAF)
October 2003: Dry weather, high winds, and resulting wildfires in Southern California burned over 3,700 homes. Over 750,000 acres burned in 14 major fires.
Read moreMaritime Transportation Security Act of 2002
November 25, 2002: Public Law 107-295: Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 is enacted to raise port security standards and protect the nation’s ports and waterways from a terrorist attack.
Read moreHomeland Security Act of 2002
November 25, 2002: Public Law 107-296: The Homeland Security Act of 2002 established the Department of Homeland Security and set forth the primary mission of the Department.
Read moreBeltway Sniper Attacks
(Credit: FBI)
October 2002: John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo began a series of sniper shootings that would paralyze the National Capitol Region for almost three weeks until October 22, 2002. Thirteen people were shot, ten of whom died from their wounds.
Read moreAviation and Transportation Security Act
November 19, 2001: President Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act into law. The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) is created to oversee security in all modes of transportation. — TSA
Read moreUSA PATRIOT Act
(Credit: Eric Draper/White House)
October 26, 2001: The USA PATRIOT Act is signed into law.
Read more“Amerithrax” Anthrax Attacks
(Credit: FBI)
September 18, 2001: “Soon after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, letters laced with anthrax began appearing in the U.S. mail. Five Americans were killed and 17 were sickened in what became the worst biological attacks in U.S. history. The ensuing investigation by the FBI and its partners — code-named ‘Amerithrax’ — has been one of the largest and most complex in the history of law enforcement.” — FBI
Read moreSeptember 11, 2001 Attacks
(Credit: Robert J. Fisch/Flickr User)
September 11, 2001: Two passenger airliners crash into the World Trade Center Towers in New York, one would hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and another crashed in a Pennsylvania countryside, but was headed for Washington, D.C.
Read moreUSS Cole Bombing
Y2K
(Credit: Matthew Hurst/Flickr user)
January 1, 2000: Widespread fear and panic centered on the turn of the century and the idea that a technological bug would leave nations scrambling to counteract damage done to technological infrastructure.
Read moreUS Embassy Bombings, East Africa
(Credit: USDS)
August 7, 1998: Bombs detonated in front of two American embassies; one in Nairobi, Kenya and the other in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Read more“Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski Arrested
(Credit: Jeanne Boylan/FBI)
April 3, 1996: Theodore Kaczynski is arrested. Also known as the Unabomber, Kaczynski sent primitive, untraceable, homemade explosives to a number of random targets that left the FBI puzzled for nearly two decades.
Read moreOklahoma City Bombing
(Credit: FBI)
April 19, 1995: A bomb ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in downtown Oklahoma City, set by Timothy McVeigh.
Read moreMidwest Flooding
(Credit: National Weather Service)
July 2, 1993: Persistent heavy rains and thunderstorms caused severe, widespread flooding in the central U.S. This is the most costly non-tropical, inland flood event to affect the United States on record.
Read moreWaco Siege Ended
(Credit: FBI)
April 19, 1993: The 51-day Waco Seige standoff ended when the the Branch Davidian compound was engulfed by fires set by the Davidians, after the FBI used tear gas in an attempt to force the occupants to leave.
Read moreWorld Trade Center Bombing
(Credit: FBI)
February 26, 1993: A bomb exploded in a rented moving truck that was parked in the garage beneath the World Trade Center that resulted in a 100-foot crater that was several stories deep and several stories higher.
Read moreHurricane Andrew
Dade Co., Florida damage. /Credit: Bob Epstein,FEMA
August 26, 1992: The Category 5 hurricane caused severe damage to Louisiana, the Bahamas, and the southern part of Florida, with the majority of damage caused by extremely high winds.
Read moreOakland Firestorm
(Credit: NASA/DART)
Loma Prieta Earthquake
October 17, 1989: A magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred northeast of Santa Cruz, CA, approximately 60 miles from San Francisco. It was the largest earthquake to occur on the San Andreas fault since the great San Francisco earthquake in April 1906.
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
(Credit: NARA)
March 24, 1989: Oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling more than 11 million gallons of crude oil. The spill was the largest in U.S. history and caused marine life, communities, and industries to suffer.
Read morePan Am 103 Bombing
(Credit: FBI)
December 21, 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 departed from London’s Heathrow Airport, bound for New York City. However, just 40 minutes into the flight, the plane exploded 31,000 feet up in the skies above Lockerbie, Scotland.
Read more1988 U.S. Drought/Heatwave
June-August 1988: A drought across a large portion of the U.S. resulted in very severe losses to agriculture and related industries. Combined direct and indirect deaths due to heat stress were estimated at 5,000.
Read moreTWA Flight 847 Hijacking
(Credit: Ensign Danny Ewing Jr. /U.S. Navy)
June 14, 1985: TWA Flight 847 from Cairo to San Diego with stops in Athens and Rome, was hijacked and held hostage for 17 days, while being subjected to torture and death threats.
Read moreUS Embassy Annex Bombing, Beirut
(Credit: Nancy Wong)
September 20, 1984: A suicide bomber detonates a van full of approximately 3,000 pounds of explosives outside of the US Embassy Annex in Beirut, Lebanon. This was the second attack in less than two years on the US Embassy in Beirut.
Read moreRajneeshee Bioterror Attack
September 1984: “The Rajneesh cult succeeded with the first documented bioterror incident in the United States. […] Their attack hospitalized 45, caused 751 to fall ill, and would serve as a historical benchmark of bioterrorism in the United States.”
US Embassy Bombing, Beirut
(Credit: US Army)
April 18, 1983: A suicide bomber crashes a truck into the front of the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon before detonating approximately 2,000 pounds of explosives.
Read more1980 US Heat Wave
June-September 1980: Beginning in June and stretching until mid-September, the 1980 US Heat Wave was a period of intense heat and drought that plagued the central and eastern United States and caused billions in damage.
Read moreThree-Mile Island Accident
(Credit: John G. Kemeny et al/TMI President’s Commission)
March 28, 1979: The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down and was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history.
Read moreCreation of FEMA
March 31, 1979: President Carter’s 1979 Executive Order 12127 merged many of separate disaster-related responsibilities into a new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Read moreHurricane Creek Mine Disaster
(Credit: Upike94/wiki user)
December 30, 1970: A blast tore through mine shafts 15 and 16 Finely Mine. Just a month earlier, the Bureau of Mine had declared the mine an imminent danger.
Read moreDawson’s Field Hijackings
(Credit: Jordanian Press)
September 1970: Four aircraft bound for New York City and one for London, were hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Read moreGreat Alaska Earthquake
(Credit: U.S. Army)
March 27, 1964: A magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck in the Prince William Sound region of Alaska. It lasted for approximately 4.5 minutes, and is the most powerful earthquake recorded in U.S. history.
Read moreBaptist Street Bombing
(Credit: FBI)
September 15, 1963: A dynamite bomb exploded in the back stairwell of the downtown Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The church was well-known as a key civil rights meeting place, so the incident was easily classified as an act of racial hatred.
Read moreNational Security Agency Established
(Credit: NSA)
November 4, 1952: The NSA was established by order of President Harry Truman.
Read moreFederal Civil Defense Act of 1950
Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949
(Credit: CIA)
June 20, 1949: The Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 is signed. “The CIA was created under the National Security Act of 1947. […] Two years later, President Truman signed the Central Intelligence Agency Act, which authorized CIA to secretly fund intelligence operations and conduct personnel actions outside of standard US Government procedures.” — CIA
Read moreTexas City Disaster
(Credit: Alfred S. Gerson/wiki user)
April 16, 1947: Docked in Texas City, TX, the S.S. Grandcamp, loaded with a cargo 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, suddenly and mysteriously caught fire and then exploded. This incident was considered the largest industrial disaster of its time in the U.S.
Read moreAttack on Pearl Harbor
(Credit: Unknown U.S. Navy photographer)
December 7, 1941: Japan launches an attack on Pearl Harbor which goes down as one of the worst attacks on American soil, and catapults the nation into a world war that lasted four years.
Read moreThe Dust Bowl
(Credit: George E. Marsh/NOAA)
1930s: Between the years 1930-1940, the Great Plains suffered a severe drought that only further destroyed the already over-farmed and over-grazed land. It would last for nearly a decade, but effects could be felt for years after.
Read moreOkeechobee Hurricane
(Credit: NOAA)
September 17, 1928: A category 4 hurricane tears through Lake Okeechobee area of Florida, piling the water up at the south end of the lake and topping the levee, spreading water several feet deep onto the land below.
Read moreWall Street Bombing, 1920
(Credit: LOC)
September 16, 1920: A man driving a cart pulled by horse, parked in front of the U.S. Assay Office across from the J. P. Morgan building in the heart of Wall Street. Minutes later, a bomb exploded, devastating the area.
Read moreInfluenza Epidemic of 1918
(Credit: U.S. Army)
1918-1919: Known as the “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe”, the Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919 struck hard and fast, and in just one year dropped the American life expectancy by 12 years.
Read moreSan Francisco Earthquake
(Credit: California Historical Society)
April 18, 1906: A magnitude of 7.9 struck San Francisco, CA. Violent shocks lasted approximately 40-60 seconds and was felt from southern Oregon to the south of Los Angeles and inland as far as Central Nevada.
Read moreGreat Galveston Hurricane
(Credit: NOAA)
September 8, 1900: A category 4 hurricane strikes Galveston, TX with winds exceeding 135 miles per hour. The storm devastated the port city and to this day remains the deadliest natural disaster in United States history.
Read morePeshtigo Fire
(Credit: Ruhrfisch/US Census)
October 8, 1871: A devastating forest fire sweeps through northeast Wisconsin and is considered to be the deadliest fire in American history.
Read moreHayward Fault Earthquake
(Credit: U.S. Geological Survey)
October 12, 1868: A magnitude of 6.8 struck the region of San Francisco Bay. It lasted for more than 40 seconds and is considered one of the most destructive earthquakes in California’s history.
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