Cengage Learning

Disasters and Tragic Events: An Encyclopedia of Catastrophes in American History, 1st Edition

  • Editor: Mitchell Newton-Matza
  • Published By:
  • ISBN-10: 1610691660
  • ISBN-13: 9781610691666
  • DDC: 904
  • Grade Level Range: 9th Grade - College Senior
  • 856 Pages | eBook
  • Original Copyright 2014 | Published/Released December 2014
  • This publication's content originally published in print form: 2014

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About

Overview

Tragedies and disasters have always been part of the fabric of American history. Some gave rise to reactions that profoundly influenced the nation. Others dominated public consciousness for a moment, then disappeared from collective memory. Organized chronologically, Disasters and Tragic Events examines these moments, covering both the familiar and the obscure and probing their immediate and long-term effects. Unlike other works that concentrate on a particular type of disaster, for example, weather- or medicine-related tragedies, this two-volume encyclopedia has no such limits. Its entries range from natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, to civic disturbances, environmental disasters, epidemics and medical errors, transportation accidents, and more. The work is a perfect supplement for history classes and will also prove of great interest to the general reader.

Contributors

Contributors

  • Mitchell Newton-Matza

Table of Contents

Front Cover.
Half Title Page.
Title Page.
Copyright Page.
Contents.
List of Entries.
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
Introduction: The Impact of Disasters and Tragic Events.
Chronology.
1: 1650–1865 Slavery.
2: 1692 Salem Witch Trials.
3: 1755 Massachusetts Offshore Earthquake.
4: 1770 Boston Massacre.
5: 1791 Connecticut Earthquake.
6: 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic (Philadelphia).
7: 1800s American Bison Extermination.
8: 1811–1812 New Madrid, Missouri, Earthquakes.
9: 1812 Fort Dearborn Massacre.
10: 1814 Burning of Washington, DC.
11: 1820 Whaleship Essex Sinking.
12: 1831 Nat Turner Slave Rebellion.
13: 1836 Battle of the Alamo.
14: 1838 Cherokee Trail of Tears.
15: 1840 Natchez, Mississippi, Tornado.
16: 1846–1847 Donner Party Cannibalism.
17: 1849 Mississippi Valley Cholera Epidemic.
18: 1849 Navajo Forced Exile.
19: 1853 Yellow Fever Epidemic.
20: 1854 Bleeding Kansas Riots.
21: 1854 Powhatan Sinking.
22: 1854 New Era Sinking.
23: 1857 Fort Tejon, California, Earthquake.
24: 1857 SS Central America Sinking.
25: 1859 John Brown Raid on Harpers Ferry.
26: 1860 Lady Elgin Sinking.
27: 1862 Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg, Maryland).
28: 1863 New York City Draft Riots.
29: 1863 Southern Bread Riots.
30: 1865 Abraham Lincoln Assassination (Washington, DC).
31: 1865 Andersonville, Georgia, Civil War Prison.
32: 1865 Sultana Steamboat Explosion.
33: 1867 Yellow Fever Epidemic (Southern United States).
34: 1870s–1960s Jim Crow Laws.
35: 1871 Great Chicago Fire.
36: 1871 Peshtigo, Wisconsin, Fire.
37: 1875 SS Pacific Sinking.
38: 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn (Montana Territory).
39: 1878 Yellow Fever Epidemic.
40: 1881 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Tombstone, Arizona).
41: 1881 James Garfield Assassination (Washington, DC).
42: 1884 Tornado Outbreak (Enigma Outbreak).
43: 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, Earthquake.
44: 1886 Haymarket Riot (Chicago, Illinois).
45: 1888 School Children's Blizzard.
46: 1888 East Coast Blizzard.
47: 1889 Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Flood.
48: 1890 Louisville, Kentucky, Tornado.
49: 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre (South Dakota).
50: 1891 New Orleans Mass Lynching of Italians.
51: 1892 Homestead Massacre (Pennsylvania).
52: 1894 Pullman Strike (Chicago, Illinois).
53: 1896 Missouri/Illinois Tornado Outbreak.
54: 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court Case.
55: 1898 USS Maine Explosion.
56: 1900 Scofield, Utah, Coal Mine Explosion.
57: 1900 North German Lloyd Steamship Line Pier Fire (Hoboken, New Jersey).
58: 1900 Galveston, Texas, Hurricane.
59: 1901 William McKinley Assassination (Buffalo, New York).
60: 1903 Iroquois Theatre Fire (Chicago, Illinois).
61: 1904 SS General Slocum Sinking.
62: 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
63: 1907 Monongah, West Virginia, Coal Mine Explosion.
64: 1908 Lake View School Fire (North Collinwood, Ohio).
65: 1908 Rhoads Opera House Fire (Boyertown, Pennsylvania).
66: 1909 Louisiana Hurricane.
67: 1909 Cherry Mine Fire (Illinois).
68: 1910 Washington State Avalanche.
69: 1910 Oregon Earthquake.
70: 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (New York City).
71: 1912 RMS Titanic Sinking.
72: 1912 Katmai, Alaska, Volcano Eruption.
73: 1913 Omaha, Nebraska, Easter Sunday Tornado.
74: 1913 Ohio River Flood.
75: 1913 Stag Canon No. 2 Mine Explosion (Dawson, New Mexico).
76: 1913 Great Lakes Storm.
77: 1914 Ludlow, Colorado, Massacre.
78: 1914 Passenger Pigeon Extinction.
79: 1915 SS Eastland Disaster (Chicago, Illinois).
80: 1915 Leo Frank Lynching (Georgia).
81: 1915 Execution of Joe Hill (Utah).
82: 1916 Polio Epidemic (New York City and Northeast).
83: 1917 East St. Louis, Illinois, Race Riot.
84: 1918 Influenza Epidemic.
85: 1918 USS Cyclops Disappearance.
86: 1918 Nashville, Tennessee, Train Collision.
87: 1919 Boston Molasses Disaster.
88: 1919 Chicago Race Riots.
89: 1919 Omaha, Nebraska, Courthouse Lynching.
90: 1919 Elaine, Arkansas, Massacre.
91: 1920 Duluth, Minnesota, Lynchings.
92: 1924 Nixon, New Jersey, Nitration Works Disaster.
93: 1925 Tri-State Tornado (Missouri, Illinois, Indiana).
94: 1926 Florida Hurricane.
95: 1927 Mississippi River Flood.
96: 1928 St. Francis Dam Collapse (California).
97: 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Chicago, Illinois).
98: 1929 Stock Market Crash.
99: 1929 Great Depression Begins.
100: 1930–2003 Alabama PCB Poisoning.
101: 1930 Ohio State Penitentiary Fire.
102: 1931 Scottsboro Boys Accusations (Alabama).
103: 1932–1936 Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Case (Hopewell, New Jersey).
104: 1932 Tornado Outbreak.
105: 1932 Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.
106: 1932 Bonus Army Incident.
107: 1934 Morro Castle Steamer Fire.
108: 1935 Florida Keys Labor Day Hurricane.
109: 1935–1936 Dust Bowl Drought.
110: 1936 Tornado Outbreak.
111: 1937 New London, Texas, School Disaster.
112: 1937 Hindenburg Disaster (Lakehurst, New Jersey).
113: 1937 Memorial Day Massacre (Chicago, Illinois).
114: 1937 Amelia Earhart Disappearance.
115: 1938 New England Hurricane.
116: 1940 Pond Creek No. 1 Mine Explosion (West Virginia).
117: 1940 Willow Grove No. 10 Mine Explosion (Ohio).
118: 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (Washington State).
119: 1941 Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
120: 1942–1945 Japanese American Internment Camps.
121: 1942 Cocoanut Grove Nightclub Fire (Boston, Massachusetts).
122: 1943 Zoot Suit Riots (Southern California).
Title Page.
1: 1944 USS Turner Explosion.
2: 1944 Shinnston, West Virginia, Tornado.
3: 1944 Port Chicago, California, Ammunition Ship Explosion.
4: 1944 Cleveland, Ohio, Gas Explosion.
5: 1944 Ringling Brothers Circus Fire (Hartford, Connecticut).
6: 1945 Empire State Building Plane Crash (New York City).
7: 1945 USS Indianapolis Sinking.
8: 1946 Allis-Chalmers Riot (Milwaukee, Wisconsin).
9: 1946 Unimak, Alaska, Tsunami.
10: 1947 Centralia No. 5 Mine Explosion (Illinois).
11: 1947 Grandcamp Freighter Explosion (Texas City, Texas).
12: 1949–1952 Polio Epidemic.
13: 1950s Height of Blacklisting.
14: 1951 Orient No. 2 Mine Explosion (West Frankfort, Illinois).
15: 1957–1961 Thalidomide Drug Tragedy.
16: 1958 Our Lady of Angels School Fire (Chicago, Illinois).
17: 1960 New York City Mid-Air Collision.
18: 1963 USS Thresher Submarine Sinking.
19: 1963 John F. Kennedy Assassination (Dallas, Texas).
20: 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska, Earthquake.
21: 1965 Malcolm X Assassination (New York City).
22: 1965 Little Rock, Arkansas, AFB Missile Silo Fire.
23: 1965 Watts Riots (Los Angeles, California).
24: 1967 Apollo 1 Fire (Cape Canaveral, Florida).
25: 1967 Point Pleasant Bridge Collapse (Ohio River).
26: 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh (Vietnam).
27: 1968 My Lai Massacre March (Vietnam).
28: 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr., Assassination (Memphis, Tennessee).
29: 1968 USS Scorpion Submarine Sinking.
30: 1968 Robert F. Kennedy Assassination (Los Angeles, California).
31: 1968 Democratic Convention Riots (Chicago, Illinois).
32: 1969 Hurricane Camille (Mississippi Gulf Coast).
33: 1969 Altamont Concert (Livermore, California).
34: 1970 Kent State University Massacre (Kent, Ohio).
35: 1970 Jackson State Killings (Jackson, Mississippi).
36: 1970 Marshall University Football Team Plane Crash.
37: 1971 Attica, New York, Prison Riots.
38: 1972–1974 Watergate Break-In/Watergate Scandal.
39: 1972 Hurricane Agnes (East Coast).
40: 1972 Illinois Central Commuter Train Crash (Chicago, Illinois).
41: 1973 UpStairs Lounge Fire (New Orleans, Louisiana).
42: 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak.
43: 1975 SS Edmund Fitzgerald Sinking.
44: 1976 Teton Dam Collapse (Idaho).
45: 1976 Big Thompson Flood (Colorado).
46: 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire (Southgate, Kentucky).
47: 1978 Love Canal Toxic Chemical Evacuation (Niagara Falls, New York).
48: 1978 Willow Island Disaster (West Virginia).
49: 1978 PSA Flight 182 Airline Crash (San Diego, California).
50: 1978 Harvey Milk/George Moscone Assassinations (San Francisco, California).
51: 1979 Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Disaster (Pennsylvania).
52: 1979 Flight 191 DC-10 Airline Crash (Chicago, Illinois).
53: 1980s AIDS Epidemic Spreads.
54: 1980 Sunshine Skyway Collision (Tampa Bay, Florida).
55: 1980 Mount St. Helens Volcano Eruption (Washington State).
56: 1981 Hyatt-Regency Walkway Collapse (Kansas City, Missouri).
57: 1982 Tylenol Poisonings (Chicago, Illinois, Area).
58: 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion.
59: 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (Alaska).
60: 1989 Hurricane Hugo (South Carolina).
61: 1992 Rodney King Riots (Los Angeles, California).
62: 1992 Hurricane Andrew (Florida).
63: 1993 Waco, Texas, Tragedy.
64: 1993 Mississippi River Flood.
65: 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.
66: 1996 Long Island, New York, Airliner Crash.
67: 1999 Columbine Massacre (Littleton, Colorado).
68: 1999 Texas A&M University Bonfire Tragedy.
69: 2000 USS Cole Bombing (Aden, Yemen).
70: 2000 West Virginia/Kentucky Coal Sludge Spill.
71: 2001 Terrorist Attacks of 9/11.
72: 2001 New York City Airline Crash.
73: 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster.
74: 2003 Station Nightclub Fire (West Warwick, Rhode Island).
75: 2005 Hurricane Katrina (Louisiana).
76: 2007 Virginia Tech Shootings.
77: 2007 Huntington, Utah, Coal Mine Disaster.
78: 2008 Tennessee Coal Ash Spill.
79: 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine Explosion (West Virginia).
80: 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.
81: 2011 Joplin, Missouri, Tornado.
82: 2011 Arizona Wildfires.
83: 2012 Hurricane Sandy (East Coast).
84: 2012 Sandy Hook School Shootings (Newtown, Connecticut).
85: Primary Documents.
86: Indian Removal Act of 1830.
87: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831).
88: Excerpts from The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831).
89: Fugitive Slave Act (1850).
90: Scott v. Sandford (1857).
91: The Post-Civil War Amendments: The Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth (1870) Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
92: Testimony from the Haymarket Riot Trial (1886).
93: Account of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Flood (1889).
94: In re Debs (1895).
95: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).
96: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon (1913).
97: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's “Rendezvous with Destiny” Speech Delivered before the Democratic National Convention (1936).
98: Excerpts from Eyewitness Accounts of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (1940).
99: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation (1941).
100: Executive Order 9066 (1942).
101: Korematsu v. United States (1944).
102: Internal Security Act (McCarran Act) (1950).
103: Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
104: Warren Commission Report (1964).
105: President Richard M. Nixon's Resignation Speech (1974).
106: Portion of the Transcript of the Trial of Accused Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh (1997).
107: USA PATRIOT Act (2001).
108: West Virginia Mine Safety Law (2012).
109: President Barack Obama's Remarks at the Sandy Hook Interfaith Prayer Vigil in Newtown, Connecticut (2012).
Bibliography.
Editor and Contributors.
Index.