At least 200 workers would die in a relentless storm of explosions that literally launched buildings into the air.

More than a cubic mile of rock blasted into the sky, leaving behind a gigantic horseshoe crater. The force of the Mount St. Helen's blast was equal to 1600 atomic bombs.

After 32 years with an anglicized spelling, the United States Congress changed "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico."

A man named Shawn Nelson stole an M60 Patton Tank and went on a 23-minute rampage in San Diego, California.

Captain Eli Beeding rode a rocket sled and subjected himself to the world’s worst case of whiplash.

One of the coolest ways to travel from Manhattan to JFK Airport used to be a 7-minute helicopter flight that took off from the helipad on top of the Pan Am Building.

During the Civil War, the Union Army occupied New Orleans under the command of Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler, who issued an infamous order.

A year and a half before the Wright Brothers' famous flight at Kitty Hawk, an eccentric character named Lyman Gilmore took off in his steam-powered plane - or so he claimed.

With unemployment at record levels and an economy in the crapper, 100,000 New Yorkers took to the streets.

A Union soldier named John J. Williams was the last man to die in the American Civil War.

Vice President Richard Nixon was attacked by an angry mob in Venezuela. The incident occurred during a goodwill tour of South America.

Two men survived being lost at sea for 6 months aboard a 13-foot dinghy.

A team of peatcutters uncovered the body of a young girl who had been in the marsh for 1,700 years.

The main stands at Valley Parade Stadium burst into flames during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City.

A 34-year-old carpet salesman from Kentucky went for a wild ride on a kite. The flight lasted for 12 hours and covered 390 miles.

A 600-foot freighter slammed into a pier beneath the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida. 1,400 feet of the bridge collapsed and 35 people were killed

An Irish rogue named Thomas Blood stole the British Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

She jumped off the Clifton Suspension Bridge that towers 246 feet above the Avon River in England. Miraculously, she survived.

Two French aviators attempted the first trans-atlantic flight from Paris to New York. Their fate is one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time.

A diver named Etem got his hand stuck inside a giant clam and drowned. The giant pearl he was clutching is now valued at approximately $40,000,000.