The space agency and President Obama pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the pursuit of space exploration. – Throughout the storied history of the U.S.
space program, which put a man on the moon, sent unmanned satellites into the
farthest reaches of our solar system and inspired generations with the heroic
deeds of dozens of astronauts, there have been moments of heartbreak. In 1967,
three astronauts w…
Each year since 2004, Kroll Ontrack, a longtime provider of data recovery products and services, has compiled a list of its top 10 data disasters and subsequent recoveries. It’s always interesting reading. Through its Ontrack Data Recovery products and services, Minneapolis-based Kroll Ontrack uses hundreds of proprietary tools and techniques to help businesses and consumers recover lost or corrupted data from all types of operating systems, devices and storage media. "Data loss situations continue to run the gamut in terms of when, where and how they happen. The causes of loss can greatly vary. While every data loss situation is different, an experienced data recovery provider with the right tools, techniques and expertise can help recover as much critical data as possible," said Todd Johnson, vice president of Ontrack Data Recovery’s operations. Kroll Ontrack provides a video on the top five data disasters. – …
1948: An inversion layer settles over the rust belt town of Donora, Pennsylvania, trapping industrial pollution in the atmosphere. When it clears six days later, 20 people are dead, another 50 are dying and hundreds will live out their days with permanently damaged lungs.
Inversion occurs when the air near the ground is cooler than the [...]
News Analysis: Everybody knows you have to prepare for disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, but sometimes you need a recovery plan when the disaster is entirely personal. – I’m sure that at one time or another, pretty much
everyone who uses computers has had the sinking feeling that greeted me when I
came back to the office one evening to finish some work on a review for eWEEK.
The primary workstation in the lab, the one that had test
results, notes and the backgro…
1883: Krakatau volcano in the Dutch East Indies roars to life with a volley of ever-increasing explosions. It will culminate the next morning with the loudest explosion in human history.
Krakatau (aka Krakatoa) had been rumbling and sending up puffs of ash since May 1883. The eruption turned deadly on the afternoon of Aug. 26, [...]
1948: A deadly explosion at German chemical conglomerate IG Farben’s Ludwigshafen plant on the Rhine River kills more than 200 people and injures more than 3,800 — 500 of them seriously. It violently interrupts the closing phase of the Nazi corporate conspirator’s post-war trial at Nuremberg. Two days later, the War Crimes Tribunal finds [...]
1989: A catastrophic hydraulic-system failure forces a plane to make an emergency landing in Sioux City, Iowa. The right wing catches on the tarmac, sending the plane careening down the runway in a ball of flame and twisting wreckage. But thanks to the skill of the flight team, the rescue personnel on the ground and [...]
1965: After 19 years of planning and construction, the Mont Blanc Tunnel officially opens. The new tunnel stretches 7 miles, linking the French town of Chamonix and the Italian town of Courmayeur. Buried 1.5 miles under the Alps’ highest peak, it becomes the world’s deepest road tunnel beneath rock and gains infamy after a deadly [...]
1977: Lightning strikes a Consolidated Edison substation along the Hudson River, tripping two circuit breakers and setting off a chain of events that results in a massive power failure. The entire city of New York is blacked out, parts of it for more than 24 hours.
See also:
Photo Gallery
The Big Apple’s Great Blackout of 1977
A number [...]
1783: Ash from the Laki volcano in Iceland arrives in Britain and northern France. It will linger for months, creating a hot summer, a very cold winter and thousands of deaths.
Laki began erupting June 8. It produced the largest lava flow in historic times when a fissure 16 miles long sent a flow of pahoehoe [...]
1780: In the midst of the Revolutionary War, darkness descends on New England at midday. Many people think Judgment Day is at hand. It will be remembered as New England’s Dark Day.
Diaries of the preceding days mention smoky air and a red sun at morning and evening. Around noon this day, an early darkness fell: [...]
1986: Design flaws, compounded by human errors, cause Soviet engineers to lose control of a reaction at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A partial meltdown occurs. Many die. Many more suffer. The final count of victims may not be over yet.
When someone says “nuclear disaster” you don’t think Three Mile Island. You probably don’t think [...]
Disaster recovery is one of the biggest challenges that are faced by almost all the companies. To continue with the normal regime with a re-boosted confidence within with all the clients retained can be done only with the help of a right and an appropriate disaster recovery scheme.
1700: A massive earthquake strikes the Pacific Northwest coast, sending a tsunami racing across the ocean all the way to Japan.
The earthquake was likely around magnitude 9 and occurred in the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The oceanic crust there is being forced beneath the North American Plate along 680 miles of the coastline between Mendocino in [...]
1953: A train leaves Boston packed with people heading to Washington, D.C., for the presidential inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. It suffers a catastrophic brake failure and will crash through a railroad terminal at its destination the next morning.
Thanks to the quick thinking and action of the engineers, there were only 87 injuries [...]
1879: An iron railway bridge over Scotland’s River Tay collapses in a severe storm as a passenger train rolls across. The train plunges into the roiling river, killing everyone on board.
The lattice-girder bridge, designed by highly regarded railway engineer Sir Thomas Bouch, crossed the Firth of Tay between Dundee and Leuchars. It was built on [...]
Each year since 2004, Kroll Ontrack, a longtime provider of data recovery products and services, has compiled a list of its top 10 data disasters and subsequent recoveries, and it’s always interesting reading. Through its Ontrack Data Recovery products and services, Minneapolis-based Kroll Ontrack uses hundreds of proprietary tools and techniques to help businesses and consumers recover lost or corrupted data from all types of operating systems, devices and storage media. Ontrack Data Recovery engineers see more than 50,000 data recoveries annually. While some are extreme, it is important to note that advances in technology and expertise make no situation impossible, said Jim Reinert, vice president of Kroll Ontrack product development.
– …
1963: Two industrial tragedies in Japan claim the lives of more than 600 people.
The first accident occurred at the Miike coal mine between Omuta and Arao. Ten mining carts loaded with coal were being hauled to the surface at around 3:12 in the afternoon. One of the chains linking the carts together severed and sent [...]
