Hawk’s Nest Tunnel tragedy – 1930s
It seems bizarre that one of the USA’s worst-ever industrial disasters happened without a single casualty being recorded, but that’s…
Oppau Explosion – 1921
Ignorance can be bliss - until disaster strikes. Before World War I the BASF (Badische Anilin- und Soda Fabrik) dye…
Operation Iraqi Freedom – 2003
Operation Iraqi Freedom is the name given to the invasion of Iraq on March 19 2003. Its objective was ‘regime…
The Kursk Disaster – 2000
Some time over the weekend of August 12-13 2000, while on a naval exercise inside the Arctic Circle, the Russian…
Iraq Invasion of Kuwait – 1990-1991
In the late 1980s, after the failure of his long and costly war against Iran, which had lasted for most…
Palomares Incident – 1966
Although some progress towards detente had been made with the signing in 1963 of the Test Ban Treaty between the…
Operation Eagle Claw – 1980
Now it seems either breathtakingly arrogant or plain mad, but in 1979 global diplomacy had no public voice for, nor…
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan – 1979-1989
Since time immemorial Afghanistan has been riven by tribal, ethnic and religious conflict. In its harsh geography, authority expands and…
Vietnam War – 1959-1975
The protracted and brutal war that laid waste one of Asia’s most ravishingly beautiful countries was a classic example of…
Bay of Pigs Invasion – 1961
Lying only 300 km (200 mi) from the US mainland, the Caribbean island of Cuba had become an increasingly irritable…