Disasters Chapters

Whether natural or man-made, disasters simultaneously cause massive destruction and unity of people trying to help those in need. Discover some of the world's worst disasters in this collection.

Although the Soviet Union never acknowledged that its policies caused the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33, Russia acknowledged it in 2003.

Hitler seeks to conceal the sinking of the Gustloff and a second German vessel.

Samuel Clemens gets a job in St. Louis working on Mississippi river boats. Not long after, he becomes a licensed river pilot.

The San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906 destroys most of the city.

The captain searches for nearby submarines to take his radiation-sick sailors.

Ultimately Jews become scapegoats during the medieval plague; 2,000 burn to death in Strasbourg on Valentine's Day, 1349.

Because of Soviet secrecy, sailors who survive the K-19 radiation leak may not tell the true story about what happened.

"We the people" vow not to surrender to terrorism.

In 1992 77 plaintiffs, with help from Erin Brockovich and Ed Masry, file a lawsuit against BG&E for $250 million.

In Galveston, the seawater rises to 20 feet in some areas, drowning many people. Winds blow 120 mph, sweeping homes away.

James Goodsell provides an eyewitness account of the perilous human situation.

Infected soldiers carry the Spanish Flu wherever they go. When they return to the U.S., the flu re-infects the country.

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