Exxon Valdez Spills Millions: An Environmental Catastrophe
The Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef and dumped up to 38 million gallons of crude oil across 1,300 miles of Alaskan coastline, choking salmon runs and seabird populations in a remote wilderness that hampered immediate cleanup efforts. This disaster forced the United States to overhaul its maritime safety laws and established the first major legal precedent for holding corporations fully liable for ecological destruction.
March 24, 1989
37 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on March 24
The crossbow bolt hit Richard the Lionheart in the shoulder during a siege of a minor French castle over a disputed treasure hoard. The wound wasn't fatal. But …
An English fleet commanded by the Earls of Arundel and Nottingham destroyed a combined Franco-Castilian-Flemish invasion force off the coast of Margate, capturi…
Timur’s forces systematically dismantled Damascus, burning the Umayyad Mosque and deporting the city’s skilled artisans to his capital in Samarkand. This brutal…
James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne following the death of Elizabeth I, uniting the two crowns under a single monarch for the first time. This pers…
Elizabeth I died without naming her successor, but everyone knew. Robert Carey rode 400 miles from London to Edinburgh in just three days—the fastest anyone had…
Tokugawa Ieyasu accepts the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei to establish his rule in Edo, launching a two-century era of isolation that stabilizes Japan a…
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