24 Hours of Le Mans – 1955
First held in 1923, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a true test of speed, skill and, above all,…
Superga Tragedy 1949
They were sporting legends in their own lifetimes - which would be tragically cut short in 1949. Italy’s Torino football…
Burnden Park Disaster 1946
The years immediately following World War II saw vast crowds flocking to football games in Britain, as entertainment-starved working men…
Happy Valley Racecourse Disaster 1918
In Queen Victoria’s time, wherever Britons went a-colonizing they took with them the sporting institutions they were used to. In…
Chillan Earthquake – 1939
Any time a seismograph gives a Richter scale reading of 8.3, lots of people somewhere suffer a terrible ordeal that…
Great New England Hurricane – 1938
Those who know no better might reasonably assume the Long Island Express speeds commuters into Manhattan from fashionable Nassau and…
Great Labor Day Hurricane – 1935
The hurricane built up gradually. In late August it was just a bit of local ‘weather’ near the Bahamas. Who…
Dust Bowl Disaster – 1931-1938
During America’s Great Depression, the nation’s economic collapse coincided with a drought in its heartlands, the semi-arid plains of the…
The Thames Flood – 1928
Since Roman times, London has built its most important public buildings on or very near the banks of the Thames,…