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Today in History 07/26/17

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Charles Bonaparte in 1903 (Public domain)(1908) Roosevelt and Bonaparte bring about a bureau
United States Attorney General Charles Bonaparte, acting on ideas he’d hashed out with President Teddy Roosevelt, has hired staff for a new bureau, and today he officially orders them to report to the Chief Examiner. This will later be marked as the start of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, formerly the Bureau of Investigation, is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States, and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.
Website: fbi.gov
Founders: Theodore Roosevelt · J. Edgar Hoover · Charles Joseph Bonaparte
Address: 935 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20535
Customer service: +1 800-225-5324
Seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Seal of the FBI
FBI Field Divisions Map
FBI Field Divisions Map

wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation
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Today in History 06/30/17

Painting of King Henry II of France (© Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty Images)(1559) A knightly sport claims a king
France’s King Henry II is celebrating both his daughter’s wedding and peace with the Habsburgs in one of his favorite ways, by jousting. This will be his final match, as a lance fragment strikes him in the head, killing him days later. The royal death will hasten the sport’s decline.
Henry II was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536.
Lived: Mar 31, 1519 – Jul 10, 1559 (age 40)
Spouse: Catherine de’ Medici (m. 1533)
Children: Henry III of France (Son) · Elisabeth of Valois (Daughter) · Charles IX of France (Son) · Claude of France (Daughter) · Francis II of France (Son) · Francis, Duke of Anjou (Son) · Victoria of France (Daughter) · Louis of Valois (Son) · Margaret of Valois (Daughter) · Joan of France (Daughter) · Henri d’Angoulême (Son) · Diane de France (Daugh…
Parents: Francis I of France (Father) · Claude of France (Mother)
Siblings: Francis III, Duke of Brittany (Brother) · Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (Sister)
Buried: Basilica of St Denis
Highlights
  • 1533: Henry married Catherine de’ Medici, a member of the ruling family of Florence, on 28 October 1533, when they were both fourteen years old.

  • 1536: The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536.

  • 1554: Henry captured the three episcopal cities of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and secured them by defeating the Habsburg army at the Battle of Renty in 1554.

  • 1556: After the abdication of Charles V in 1556, the Habsburg empire was split between Philip II of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

  • 1559: The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed between Henry and Elizabeth I of England on 2 April and between Henry and Philip II of Spain on 3 April 1559 at Le Cateau-Cambrésis.

  • 1559: Despite the efforts of royal surgeon Ambroise Paré, the king died of septicemia on 10 July 1559.

wiki/Henry_II_of_France
Charles Blondin crossing Niagara Gorge on a tightrope in 1859 (© William England/Getty Images)(1859) A terrifying tightrope walk conquers the air above Niagara
French daredevil ‘The Great Blondin’ steps out onto a 2-inch-diameter, 1,300-foot hemp rope stretched 160-feet above a raging gorge, and 25,000 spectators hold their collective breath. Blondin will travel from America to Canada on the first tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.
Charles Blondin was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. Blondin was born on 28 February 1824 at St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France. His real name was Jean-François Gravelet and he was known also by the names Charles Blondin, Jean-François Blondin and called the “Chevalier Blondin”, or simply “The Great Blondin”. At the age of five he was sent to the École de Gymnase at Lyon and, after six months training as an acrobat, made his first public appearance as “The boy Wonder”. His superior skill and grace, as well as the originality of the settings of his acts, made him a popular favourite. He first married Marie Blancherie, and at the same time legitimised their son Aime Leopold. It is not known what happened to his French family after he went to America.
Born: Feb 28, 1824 · Saint-Omer, France
Died: Feb 22, 1897
Highlights
  • 1824: Blondin was born on 28 February 1824 at St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France.

  • 1861: In 1861, Blondin first appeared in London, at the Crystal Palace, turning somersaults on stilts on a rope stretched across the central transept, 70 feet (21 m) from the ground.

  • 1862: In 1862, he again gave a series of performances at the Crystal Palace, and elsewhere in England, and on the continent of Europe.

  • 1866: While he was living in England he and Charlotte had two more children, Henry, born about 1863, and Charlotte Mary Janet, baptised on 25 April 1866.

  • 1873: On 6 September 1873, Blondin crossed Edgbaston Reservoir in Birmingham.

  • 1897: Blondin died of diabetes at his “Niagara House” in Ealing, London, on 22 February 1897, in his 73rd year, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

wiki/Charles_Blondin
(From left) Adolf Hitler with SA leader Ernst Röhm circa 1933 (© Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)(1934) Hitler orders a purge of potential political rivals
Turning his homicidal paranoia inwards, Adolph Hitler sends execution squads to eliminate hundreds of Nazi Party members he deems a threat to his future domination. The SS and Gestapo secret police inflict the Night of the Long Knives mostly on members of the SA, or Stormtroopers.
The Night of the Long Knives, also called Operation Hummingbird or, in Germany, the Röhm Putsch, was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate Hitler’s absolute hold on power in Germany. Many of those killed were leaders of the SA, the Nazis’ own paramilitary Brownshirts organization; the best-known victim was Ernst Röhm, the SA’s leader and one of Hitler’s longtime supporters and allies. Leading members of the left-wing Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party, along with its figurehead, Gregor Strasser, were also killed, as were establishment conservatives and anti-Nazis. The murders of Brownshirt leaders were also intended to improve the image of the Hitler government with a German public that was increasingly critical of thuggish Brownshirt tactics.
Start date: Jun 30, 1934
End date: Jul 02, 1934
Night of the Long Knives

wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives
1953 Chevrolet Corvette (© Heritage Images/Getty Images)(1953) First Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the line
The first Corvette is built in Flint, Michigan. The ‘Vette had been designed solely for the 1953 New York Auto Show, but enthusiasm from the public and Chevy ‘s chief engineer led to production of this consumer model. It will become an iconic sports car, with the one millionth Corvette being produced in 1992.
The Chevrolet Corvette, known colloquially as the Vette, or Chevy Corvette, is a sports car manufactured by Chevrolet. The car has been produced through seven generations. The first model, a convertible, was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after the type of small, maneuverable warship called a corvette. Originally built in Flint, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri, the Corvette is currently manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky and is the official sports car of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Corvette Wings

wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette
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Today in History 01/24/17

Painting of the assassination of the Roman Emperor Caligula in 41 CE (© Lazzaro Baldi/De Agostini/Getty Images)(41 CE) Roman Emperor Caligula assassinated
Stabbed by his own Praetorian Guards, the infamously deviant Caligula’s reign over Rome comes to an end. Hopes of restoring a Republic are dashed when Caligula’s uncle, Claudius, is declared Emperor.
Caligula, properly Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was Roman emperor from AD 37–41. Born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula’s biological father was Germanicus, and he was the great-nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius. The young Gaius earned the nickname “Caligula” from his father’s soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania.
Lived: 12 AD – 41 AD (age 28)
Spouse: Milonia Caesonia (m. 39 AD – 41 AD) · Lollia Paulina (m. 38 AD) · Livia Orestilla (m. 37 AD) · Junia Claudilla (m. 33 AD)
Related movies: Caligula
Siblings: Agrippina the Younger (Sister) · Julia Drusilla (Sister) · Nero Julius Caesar (Brother) · Julia Livilla (Sister) · Drusus Caesar (Brother)
Children: Julia Drusilla (Daughter)
Parents: Germanicus (Father) · Agrippina the Elder (Mother)
Highlights
  • 29 AD: Agrippina and Caligula’s brother, Nero, were banished in 29 AD on charges of treason.

  • 30 AD: In 30 AD, his brother, Drusus Caesar, was imprisoned on charges of treason and his brother Nero died in exile from either starvation or suicide.

  • 35 AD: In 35 AD, Caligula was named joint heir to Tiberius’s estate along with Tiberius Gemellus.

  • 37 AD: When Tiberius died on 16 March 37 AD, his estate and the titles of the principate were left to Caligula and Tiberius’s own grandson, Gemellus, who were to serve as joint heirs.

  • 38 AD: His favorite sister Julia Drusilla died in 38 AD of a fever: his other two sisters, Livilla and Agrippina the Younger, were exiled.

  • 38 AD: Caligula married Lollia Paulina in 38.

  • 39 AD: Caligula married Milonia Caesonia in 39.

wiki/Caligula
Painting depicting fortune seekers during the California Gold Rush in 1849 (© Stock Montage/Getty Images)(1848) California Gold Rush begins
James Marshall’s morning work on a mill on California’s American River is interrupted when he catches sight of something glimmering in the sand. The discovery of gold will rock the nation.
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and Latin America, and they were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848. All in all, the news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail.
Start date: Jan 24, 1848
End date: 1855

wiki/California_Gold_Rush
Robert Baden-Powell in 1914 (© PA Archive/Press Association Images)(1908) The scouting movement is launched
Writer, British Army officer, and national hero, Robert-Baden Powell publishes the first handbook of his ‘Scouting For Boys’ series. Inspired youngsters will start troops throughout England and, eventually, in many other countries of the world as well.
Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensively rewritten by others. The book was originally a manual for self-instruction in observation, tracking and woodcraft skills as well as self-discipline and self-improvement, about the Empire and duty as citizens with an eclectic mix of anecdotes and unabashed personal observations and recollections. It is pervaded by a degree of moral proselytizing and references to the author’s own exploits. It is based on his boyhood experiences, his experience with the Mafeking Cadet Corps during the Second Boer War at the Siege of Mafeking, and on his experimental camp on Brownsea Island, England.
Author: Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
First published: 1908
Genres: Nature · All Ages · Ages 9-12 Nonfiction

wiki/Scouting_for_Boys
Shoichi Yokoi at Guam Memorial Hospital in Agana, Guam, in 1972 after he was found in the jungle by fishermen (© AP)(1972) Japanese soldier found on Guam 27 years after WWII ends
Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese Imperial Army sergeant, is found living in a remote underground jungle cave on the island of Guam. Having believed it is his duty to die rather than surrender after WWII ends, Yokoi says, upon his return to Japan, “It is with much embarrassment, but I have returned.”
Shōichi Yokoi was a Japanese sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War. He was among the last three Japanese holdouts to be found after the end of hostilities in 1945, discovered in the jungles of Guam on 24 January 1972, almost 28 years after US forces had regained control of the island in 1944.
Born: Mar 31, 1915 · Saori, Aichi, Japan
Died: Sep 22, 1997 · Nagoya, Japan
Highlights
  • 1941: He was an apprentice tailor when he was conscripted in 1941.

  • 1944: When American forces captured the island in the 1944 Battle of Guam, Yokoi went into hiding with nine other Japanese soldiers.

  • 1974: Yokoi was the third-to-last Japanese soldier to surrender after the war, preceding Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda (relieved from duty by his former commanding officer on 9 March 1974) and Private Teruo Nakamura (arrested 18 December 1974).

  • 1997: Shoichi Yokoi died on September 22, 1997 in Nagoya, Japan.

wiki/Shoichi_Yokoi
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Today in History 01/11/17

Illustration of the lottery being drawn in Guildhall, London, in 1763 (© The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)(1569) England draws its first lottery
Chartered by Queen Elizabeth I, the first lottery is drawn in England for benefit of “publique good workes.” Later, ticketing rights will be sold to brokers, the precursor to what will one day be called stockbrokers.
Copper engraving showing damage of an earthquake in Sicily, Italy, in 1693 (© The Kozak Collection via The National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering (NISEE) at UC, Berkeley)(1693) A devastating earthquake rocks Sicily
A foreshock two days previously did little to prepare Sicilians for the fierce quake that strikes close to the island’s eastern coast, spawning devastating tsunamis, destroying at least 70 towns and cities and killing 60,000 people. It will later be estimated as the most powerful in Italy’s history.
The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria and Malta on January 11 at around 9 p.m. local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on January 9. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, the most powerful in Italian history, and a maximum intensity of XI on the Mercalli intensity scale, destroying at least 70 towns and cities, seriously affecting an area of 5,600 square kilometres and causing the death of about 60,000 people. The earthquake was followed by tsunamis that devastated the coastal villages on the Ionian Sea and in the Straits of Messina. Almost two thirds of the entire population of Catania were killed. The epicentre of the disaster was probably close to the coast, possibly offshore, although the exact position remains unknown. The extent and degree of destruction caused by the earthquake resulted in extensive rebuilding of the towns and cities of southeastern Sicily, particularly the Val di Noto, in a homogeneous late Baroque style, described as “the culmination and final flowering of Baroque art in Europe”.
According to a contemporary account of the earthquake by Vincentius Bonajutus, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, “It was in this country impossible to keep upon our legs, or in one place on the dancing Earth; nay, those that lay along on the ground, were tossed from side to side, as if on a rolling billow.”
Date: Jan 11, 1693

wiki/1693_Sicily_earthquake
Toroweap Overlook at sunset in the Grand Canyon, Arizona (© Dan Ballard/Aurora Creative/Getty Images)(1908) Roosevelt declares Grand Canyon a national monument
Arizona’s astounding 277-mile gorge is given the honor of national monument status by noted wilderness supporter President Teddy Roosevelt, thus insuring the Grand Canyon’s future protection. It will be made a national park in 1919, soon after the establishment of the National Park Service.
Grand Canyon National Park is the United States’ 15th oldest national park. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, the park is located in northwestern Arizona. The park’s central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The park covers 1,217,262 acres of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties. As of 2015, the park received more than five and a half million recreational visitors, which is the second highest count of all U.S. national parks after Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Website: www.nps.gov/grca
Address: 20 South Entrance Road, Grand Canyon Village, AZ 86023
Phone: (928) 638-7888
Established: Feb 26, 1919
Area: 1,902 sq miles (4,926 km²)
Annual visitors: 5.52 million (2015)
Travel tip: The Grand Canyon is on almost every traveler’s bucket list. Indeed, Theodore Roosevelt called it “the one great sight which every American should see.” The Bright Angel and … @tripadvisor

wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park
US Surgeon General Luther Terry holds a copy of the report on the relationship of smoking to health on Jan. 11, 1964 (© hwg/AP)(1964) Surgeon General reports risks of cigarette smoking
In a publication that will spur the first major anti-smoking campaign in US history, Dr. Luther Terry reports that smoking tobacco is implicated in hazardous health outcomes, including cancer.
The 1964 report on smoking and health had an impact on public attitudes and policy. A Gallup Survey conducted in 1958 found that only 44 percent of Americans believed smoking caused cancer, while 78 percent believed so by 1968. In the course of a decade, it had become common knowledge that smoking damaged health, and mounting evidence of health risks gave Terry’s 1964 report public resonance. Yet, while the report proclaimed that “cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action,” it remained silent on concrete remedies. That challenge fell to politicians. In 1965, Congress required all cigarette packages distributed in the United States to carry a health warning, and since 1970 this warning is made in the name of the Surgeon General. In 1969, cigarette advertising on television and radio was banned, effective September 1970.
The Reports of the Surgeon General: The 1964 Report on Smoking and Health
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Today in History 12/26/16

Today in History
(1908) Jack Johnson is first black heavyweight boxing champion
(GERMANY OUT) Australia: Open air Heavyweight World Championship fight between the reigning world champion Tommy Burns (Canada, left) and challenger Jack Johnson (*31.03.1878-10.06.1946+, USA, right) in front of 20.000 spectators at Rushcutters Bay near Sydney - 1908 - Photographer: Philipp Kester - Vintage property of ullstein bild (Photo by Philipp Kester/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
American fighter Jack Johnson, the son of two former slaves, defeats Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. The fight lasts 14 rounds until police stop it and the title is awarded to Johnson on a referee’s decision. Johnson will hold the title until 1915 when he’ll lose a grueling fight with a working cowboy.

Tommy Burns, born Noah Brusso, is the only Canadian-born World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. The first to travel the globe in defending his title, Tommy made 11 title defences despite often being the underdog due to his size. Burns famously challenged all comers as Heavyweight Champion, leading to a celebrated bout with the American Jack Johnson. According to his biographer, Burns insisted, “I will defend my title against all comers, none barred. By this I mean white, black, Mexican, Indian, or any other nationality. I propose to be the champion of the world, not the white, or the Canadian, or the American. If I am not the best man in the heavyweight division, I don’t want the title.”

Born: Jun 17, 1881 · Chesley, Canada
Died: May 10, 1955 · Vancouver, Canada
Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Martial art: Boxing
Boxer weight division: Heavyweight

Highlights

  • 1903: In June 1903, he was discovered playing lacrosse under an assumed name for a Detroit team that was playing in Chatham, Ontario.

  • 1904: After starting his boxing career under his real name, in 1904 Brusso took the Scottish-sounding name of Tommy Burns.

  • 1906: When Burns met Marvin Hart for the heavyweight championship of the world on February 23, 1906, Burns was a 2-1 underdog and the betting was 10-7 that he would not last ten rounds.

  • 1908: In December 1908, Burns agreed to a bout with Jack Johnson, becoming the first fighter to agree to a heavyweight championship bout with an African American.

  • 1909: In 1909 in Vancouver, B.C., Johnson told a crowd of people that Burns deserved credit as the only white heavyweight who ever gave a black man a chance to win the title.

  • 1920: A month before his 39th birthday in 1920, Burns challenged British champion Joe Beckett.

  • 1954: He died while visiting a church friend in Vancouver, British Columbia, suffering a heart attack at age 73.

— Source: wiki/Tommy_Burns_(boxer)
(1966) The first Kwanzaa holiday is celebrated
Portrait of African American author, activist, and professor Maulana Karenga with his wife Tiamoya celebrating Kwanzaa, ca.2000. Karenga created the Kwanzaa holiday in 1966; he and his wife are standing behind a table laid out for the holiday, including kinara candles. (Photo by Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images)
Professor Maulana Karenga develops Kwanzaa in the wake of the deadly Watts riots to help build community among black people. The seven-day nonreligious holiday, inspired by African harvest festivals, focuses on seven principles, such as unity and purpose, to celebrate black culture.

Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States and in other nations of the Western African diaspora in the Americas. The celebration honors African heritage in African-American culture, and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving. Kwanzaa has seven core principles. It was created by Maulana Karenga and was first celebrated in 1966–67.

— Source: wiki/Kwanzaa
(1972) Former US President Harry Truman dies at age 88
(GERMANY OUT) Truman, Harry S. *08.05.1884-26.12.1972+Staatspraesident (1945-1953), USA- Portrait- 1972 (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
The 33rd president of the US dies of multiple-organ failure after several weeks in the hospital. His wife, Bess, will opt for a small private burial in their hometown of Independence, Missouri, instead of a state funeral in DC, thinking it a more fitting goodbye for the down-to-earth Truman.

Harry S. Truman was an American politician who served as the 33rd President of the United States, coming to office on the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the last months of World War II. He is known for launching the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, for leading the Cold War against Soviet communism through the Truman doctrine and NATO, and for engaging in a stalemate in the Korean War. In domestic affairs, he was a moderate Democrat whose liberal proposals were a continuation of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, but the Conservative-dominated Congress blocked most of them. He used presidential authority to mandate equal treatment for blacks in the military and put civil rights on the national political agenda.

Lived: May 08, 1884 – Dec 26, 1972 (age 88)
Height: 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
Party: Democratic Party
Successor: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Vice President: Alben Barkley
Education: University of Missouri-Kansas City · University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law · William Chrisman High School

Highlights

  • 1919: After his wartime service, Truman returned to Independence, where he married Bess Wallace on June 28, 1919.

  • 1934: Truman then thought that he might serve out his career in some well-paying county sinecure, but circumstances changed when Pendergast reluctantly backed him in the 1934 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate after four other potential candidates turned him down.

  • 1945: Truman was sworn in as vice president on January 20, 1945.

  • 1945: Truman had been vice president for 82 days when President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945.

  • 1948: Truman maintained that civil rights were a moral priority, and in 1948 submitted the first comprehensive civil rights legislation and issued Executive Orders to start racial integration in the military and federal agencies.

  • 1950: On November 1, 1950, Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempted to assassinate Truman at Blair House.

— Source: wiki/Harry_S._Truman
(2004) Indian Ocean earthquake triggers tsunamis, killing over 230,000
FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2004 file photo, tidal waves wash through houses at Maddampegama, about 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Friday marks the 10th anniversary of one of the deadliest natural disasters in world history: a tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off the Indonesian coast, leaving more than 230,000 people dead in 14 countries and causing about $10 billion in damage. Countries from Indonesia to India to Africa's east coast were hit, leaving shocking scenes of death and destruction. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)
A 9.3 magnitude underwater earthquake off the coast of Sumatra creates huge tsunamis that devastate Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and other areas in the Indian Ocean. Many of the countries hit lack tsunami warning systems, so people have little time to escape the deadly walls of water.

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on 26 December with the epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The shock had a moment magnitude of 9.1–9.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX. The undersea megathrust earthquake was caused when the Indian Plate was subducted by the Burma Plate and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000–280,000 people in 14 countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 metres high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

Fatalities: 280,000
Date: Dec 26, 2004

— Source: wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami
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