Hurricane Esther Tamed: Project Stormfury Begins
The United States National Hurricane Research Project dropped eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther, slashing wind speeds by 10% and launching Project Stormfury. This bold experiment convinced scientists they could actually weaken hurricanes, driving decades of government-funded research into weather modification before later studies proved the technique ineffective.
September 16, 1961
65 years ago
What Else Happened on September 16
Severus II had been handed the western Roman Empire by Galerius, but Maxentius — the son of the retired emperor Diocletian — refused to recognize him and raised…
The Sixth Ecumenical Council condemned Pope Honorius I for heresy, formally excommunicating him decades after his death. This rare rebuke shattered the doctrine…
Owain Glyndŵr accepted the title of Prince of Wales from his followers, igniting a fierce, decade-long rebellion against English rule. This uprising crippled th…
There were 102 passengers crammed onto the Mayflower, but the ship wasn't meant for them — it was a cargo vessel, roughly 100 feet long, still reeking of the wi…
His father died in exile, and he was thirteen years old. James Francis Edward Stuart inherited the Jacobite claim to the British throne on September 16, 1701, o…
Campo Maior was a small Portuguese frontier town of maybe 2,000 people. In 1732, lightning hit the town's armory during a storm. The resulting explosion didn't …
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