Chernobyl – 1986
The catastrophic nuclear disaster the world had long feared finally happened in 1986 at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine. Reactor…
USS Thresher Sinking – 1963
In the early 1960s the pride of the US Navy’s submarine fleet was SSN-593, the second sub to bear the…
Lewisham Rail Crash – 1957
St John’s Station cannot be reached from the road, but is accessed by a pedestrian bridge from St John’s Vale.…
Bhopal Disaster – 1984
In 1969 the American Union Carbide Company established a factory at the Indian city of Bhopal. It would produce the…
San Juanico – 1984
If you’ve got a storage and distribution terminal containing a third of Mexico City’s liquid petroleum gas (LPG) supply stored…
Church Rock Uranium Spill – 1979
Quizmasters of the world sit up and take note. Here’s the question: ‘Name the worst radioactive accident in US history…
Three Mile Island – 1979
For an event that fascinated the world and sent a frisson of fear scorching through the USA, the nuclear accident…
Seveso Disaster – 1976
The small chemical plant owned by Hoffmann-La Roche subsidiary ICMESA near Meda, 15 km (10 mi) north of Milan, was…
Flixborough Chemical Disaster – 1974
People characterized as NIMBYs (‘Not In My Back Yarders’) are the curse of would-be developers everywhere. They are often dismissed…
Buffalo Creek Flood – 1972
Don’t always trust a US Federal Mine Inspector - that was the painful lesson learned by unsuspecting residents of Buffalo…