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- JANUARY
-
- January 2
- A barrier collapsed at the Ibrox Park football stadium, Glasgow, crushing 66 fans to death (1971).
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- January 4
- French liner Atlantique caught fire killing 18 of the crew, off Cherbourg (1933).
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- January 6
- River Thames flooded, drowning 4 people (1928).
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- January 8
- In New York, seven floors of the Empire State Building caught fire (1963).
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- January 9
- After the Union Castle liner 'Dunbar Castle' hit a mine, 152 people died (1940).
- In Hong Kong harbour, the liner 'Queen Elizabeth' was destroyed by fire (1972).
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- January 10
- In Zaïre, the Niragong volcano erupted, causing over 2000 deaths (1977).
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- January 11
- After a landslide down Huascaran, Peru, 3000 people were killed (1962).
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- January 12
- An avalanche in Austria killed more than 200 people (1954).
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- January 13
- 29,000 people died after a massive earthquake in Central Italy (1915).
-
- January 14
- Earthquake killed 1,000 people, Kingston, Jamaica (1907).
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- January 19
- An explosion at an East London munitions factory killed 69 and injured 381 (1917).
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- January 23
- Earthquake killed 830,000 people, Shanxi Province, China (1556).
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- January 28
- US space shuttle Challenger exploded after lift-off, killing the crew of 7 (1986).
-
- FEBRUARY
-
- February 1
- Over 100 people died after blizzards raged throughout the North East United States (1977).
- 1,200 people were killed after an earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan (1991).
-
- February 6
- Aeroplane crashed on take-off killing 21, including 7 members of a football team, Germany (1958).
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- February 7
- A Roman dark blue glass vase smashed by a drunken visitor to the British Museum, London (1845).
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- February 9
- An earthquake in southern California claimed 64 lives (1971).
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- February 21
- Swiss airliner crashes killing 47 passengers, Palestinian terrorists claim responsibility (1970).
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- February 26
- Earthquake killed 20,000 people, Lisbon, Portugal, (1531).
- The troop ship 'Birkenhead' sank with the loss of 485 lives, South Africa (1852).
- The French ship 'Provence II' was sunk in the Mediterranean with the loss of 930 lives (1916).
-
- February 28
- London Underground train crashed at Moorgate Station killing 42 people (1975).
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- February 29
- Earthquake killed 12,000 people, Agadir, Morocco (1960).
-
- MARCH
-
- March 2
- Severe flooding killed 200 people, North and Western Australia (1955).
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- March 6
- Cross-channel ferry left Zeebrugge, Belgium, and capsized killing 180 passengers (1987).
-
- March 11
- The Bradfield reservoir, near Sheffield, burst its banks and 250 people lost their lives (1864).
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- March 13
- Dam burst downing 450 people, Los Angeles, USA (1928).
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- March 17
- Oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground off Brittany, spilling over 220,000 tons of crude oil (1978).
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- March 18
- The Torrey Canyon oil tanker grounded off Cornwall, spilling 700,000 barrels of oil (1967).
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- March 27
- Two airliners collided on the runway killing 574 people, Tenerife airport, Canary Islands (1977).
-
- March 28
- Nuclear power station at Three Mile Island suffered a meltdown in the core of one of its reactors
- (1979).
-
- APRIL
-
- April 4
- Airship Akron crashed into the sea killing 73 people, off the New Jersey Coast (1933).
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- April 5
- Mount Etna, Siciliy, erupted, followed by violent flows of lava (1971).
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- April 7
- Volcano Vesuvius erupted, Southern Italy (1906).
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- April 10
- Earthquakes killed over 3,000 people, Iran (1972).
-
- April 15
- Titanic, the passenger liner, sank with the loss of 1500 lives after colliding with an iceberg (1912).
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- April 16
- The submarine Affray sank in the English Channel, with the loss of 75 lives (1951).
-
- April 18
- Earthquake, magnitude Richter 8.3, killed 450 and the following fire destroyed most of San
- Francisco (1906).
-
- April 26
- Radioactive material leaked from a damaged reactor at Chernobyl, contaminating the surrounding
- area (1986).
-
- April 31
- Earthquake kills 50,000, North Peru (1970).
-
- MAY
-
- May 4
- Express train hit a steam train killing 4 people, Sydney, Australia (1990).
-
- May 7
- Jet airliner plunged 4 miles before the pilot re-started the engines just in time to land safely (1983).
-
- May 8
- Volcano Mount Pelée erupted killing 30,000 people, Martinique, West Indies (1902).
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- May 11
- Fire broke out at Bradford City Soccer stadium killing 56 spectators (1985).
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- May 12
- 400,000 bees attacked the town of Moissac, France, killing ducks, chickens and dogs (1989).
-
- May 14
- Mount Etna was attacked by rockets and bombs in a failed attempt to alter the course of lava (1983).
-
- May 18
- Volcano Mount St Helens erupted killing 8 people and devastating an area of 230 square miles
- (1980).
-
- May 20
- The P&O liner 'Egypt' sank after a collision off Ushant with the loss of 87 lives (1922).
-
- May 22
- Two trains collided killing 227 passengers, Dumfries, Scotland (1915).
- Flooding killed 72 people and injured 200, South East China (1988).
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- May 23
- Fumes killed 4 construction workers, Carsington Reservoir, Derbyshire, England (1983).
- During a thunderstorm, 8 people died after the tree they were sheltering under was struck (1983).
-
- May 24
- After a riot in soccer stadium in Peru, in the ensuing panic 301 people died and 500 injured (1964).
-
- May 25
- Ferry caught fire and sank killing 48 and injuring 300 passengers, Lake Nasser on the Upper Nile
- (1983).
-
- May 27
- Overnight express train ploughed into a mud slide killing 6 and injuring 22 passengers, Cologne
- (1983).
-
- May 28
- Earthquake killed 2,000 people, Neftegorsk, Russia (1995).
-
- May 29
- River Rhine broke its banks after heavy rain and flooded the cities of Cologne, Bonn and Koblenz
- (1983).
-
- JUNE
-
- June 3
- A great fire at Constantinople (Istanbul) rendered 15,000 peoples homeless (1912).
- At a French air show, an airliner crashed six miles from Le Bourget, killing 13 people (1973).
-
- June 18
- BEA Trident airliner crashed killing 118 people, Staines, England (1972).
-
- June 23
- Air India Boeing 747 from Canada exploded 120 miles off Ireland killing 325 people (1985).
-
- June 26
- Floods killed at least 300 people and left thousands homeless, Gujarat in India (1983).
-
- June 27
- Collision between 2 trains killed 59 passengers, Paris (1988).
-
- June 28
- Southern California put on emergency alert after suffering the worst earthquakes for 40 years.
-
- JULY
-
- July 2
- Stampede killed 1,000 Muslim pilgrims in a pedestrian tunnel in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi
- Arabia (1990).
-
- July 3
- Russian troops killed 6,000 people during a general strike in Odessa (1905).
-
- July 6
- Explosion aboard North Sea oil rig 'Piper Alpha' resulted in the loss of 166 lives (1988).
-
- July 9
- Train crash killed 101 passengers, Nasville, USA (1918).
-
- July 10
- Seveso, Northern Italy, covered by a cloud of toxic weed, resulted in loss of crops and the death of
- 40,000 animals (1976).
-
- July 11
- Terrorists fired on a Greek ferry killing 9 passengers and injuring 78 as it ended a trip around the
- Aegean Islands (1988).
-
- July 16
- Train crash killed 6 passengers and injured 116, Blackpool, England (1961).
- Earthquake killed over 1,500 people, Luzon, Philippines (1990).
-
- July 19
- King Henry VIII's ship, Mary Rose, capsized and sank with the loss of 700 lives (1545).
- United Airlines DC10 crashed killing 188 passengers whilst making an emergency landing at Iowa,
- USA (1989).
-
- July 21
- Two trains collided killing 4 passengers and injuring 30, Glasgow, Scotland (1991).
-
- AUGUST
-
- August 9
- Earthquake killed 6,000 people and made 40,000 homeless, near Istanbul, Turkey (1912).
-
- August 11
- Earthquakes caused the village of São Miguel to sink, Azores (1810).
-
- August 13
- Two air balloons collided and one plunged to the ground, killing all 13 people on board (1989).
-
- August 17
- Earthquake and tidal waves killed over 6,000 people, Philippines (1976).
-
- August 19
- Earthquake killed 2,000 people, East Turkey (1966).
-
- August 22
- Following an aborted take off at Manchester Airport, a Boeing 737 burst into flames on the runway
- killing 55 people (1985).
-
- August 24
- Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried (and preserved) Pompeii and Herculaneum in hot volcanic ash,
- Southern Italy (AD79).
-
- August 26
- Volcano Krakatoa erupted killing thousands, Indonesia (1883).
- Deadly but odourless gas escaped from a volcanic lake in the Cameroons killing 1,500 people
- (1986).
-
- August 30
- Hurricane David killed 1,100 people, Caribbean and East USA (1979).
-
- August 31
- Earthquake killed 12,000 people, Iran (1968).
- Tropical storm killed over 1,000 people, Philippines (1984).
-
- SEPTEMBER
-
- September 1
- Earthquake, magnitude Richter 8.3, killed 200,000 people, Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan (1923).
-
- September 2
- Great Fire of London, lasted three days and destroyed 13,000 buildings, 65% of the city (1666).
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- September 3
- Hurricane killed 2,000 people, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (1930).
-
- September 6
- Earthquake killed 3,000 people, Lice, Turkey (1975).
- Hurricane killed 1836 people, Southern Florida, USA (1928).
-
- September 8
- Tornado and tidal waves killed 6,000 people, Galveston, USA (1900).
-
- September 9
- Earthquake, magnitude Richter 8.1, killed 4,700 people and left 30,000 injured, Mexico (1985).
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- September 19
- End of the Great Plague of London, after the death of 100,000 citizens (1665).
- Hurricane Fifi killed 2,000, Honduras, Central America (1974).
-
- September 21
- Hurricane killed 600 people, Long Island, USA (1938).
- Floods caused by hurricanes killed 8,000 people, Honduras, Central America (1974).
-
- September 25
- French battleship Liberté exploded killing 226 people, Toulon Harbour, Southern France (1909).
-
- OCTOBER
-
- October 4
- Hurricane Flora killed 6,000 people, Caribbean (1963).
-
- October 5
- British airship R101 crashed killing 48 passengers in France en route to India (1930).
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- October 8
- Great Fire of Chicago started, lasted 4 days, killed 250 people and made 95,000 homeless, USA
- (1871).
-
- October 15
- Hurricane killed 40,000 people, Bengal, India (1942).
-
- October 16
- Hurricane winds killed 19 people and caused wide-spread damage, Southern England (1987).
-
- October 17
- Earthquake killed 3,000 people, Greece and Asia Minor (1914).
-
- October 20
- Hurricane killed 600 people, Cuba (1926).
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- October 21
- Mountain of mining refuse collapsed and engulfed Aberfan village killing 144 people, Wales (1966).
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- October 22
- Hurricane killed 2,000 people, Haiti (1935).
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- NOVEMBER
-
- November 1
- Tidal wave killed 10,000 people and left 5,000,000 homeless, Orissa, India (1972).
-
- November 3
- Earthquake killed 15,000 people, Abruzzi, Italy (1706).
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- November 12
- Cyclone and tidal waves killed 150,000 people, East Pakistan (1970).
-
- November 13
- Volcano Nevado del Ruiz, dormant since 1845, erupted killing 20,000, Columbia (1985).
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- November 18
- Fire in Kings Cross Underground Station killed 30 people, London (1987).
-
- November 23
- Earthquake killed 4,000 people, Southern Italy (1980).
-
- November 26
- Great storms killed 8,000 people, England (1703).
-
- DECEMBER
-
- December 2
- Cyclone killed thousands and made 5,000,000 homeless, Bangladesh (1988).
-
- December 3
- Chemical leakage killed 2,500 and blinded many thousands, Bhopal, India (1984).
-
- December 6
- Mining accident killed 361 people, Monongah, USA (1907).
-
- December 7
- Earthquake, killed thousands and caused wide-spread destruction, Armenia (1988).
-
- December 12
- Earthquake killed over 700 people, Columbia (1979).
-
- December 16
- 180,000 people died after a landslip in the Kansu province of China (1920).
-
- December 19
- Over 500 people died in the new Hebrides following a volcanic eruption (1913).
-
- December 20
- Two ferries collided off Harwich with the loss of six lives (1982).
-
- December 21
- An earthquake in Japan resulted in 1,068 deaths (1946).
- PanAm Boeing 747 blown up by a terrorist bomb killing 270 people, Lockerbie, Scotland (1988).
-
- December 23
- Managua, capital of Nicaragua, was destroyed by an earthquake with a loss of 12,000 lives (1972).
- Greek ship Lakonia caught fire and sank killing 150 people, North Atlantic Ocean (1963).
-
- December 25
- A cyclone and tidal wave caused over 7,000 deaths in Southern India and Ceylon (1964).
- Earthquake killed 10,000 people, Managua, Nicaragua (1972).
-
- December 27
- In Anatolia, Turkey, violent earthquakes caused over 10,000 deaths (1939).
- A North Sea oil rig, 'Sea Gem' capsized and sank with the loss of 13 lives (1965).
-
- December 28
- The centre portion of the Tay Bridge in Scotland collapsed, killing 75 people aboard a train (1879).
- Earthquake, magnitude Richter 7.5, killed 83,000 people, Messina, Sicily (1908).
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