The Start of Something Trivia Quiz

The Amsden Building collapsed on July 23, 1906, in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States. The failure was attributed to inadequate concrete strength in the basement piers. In the structural failure, thirteen individuals were fatally injured, with an additional eight sustaining injuries.

The New York City polio epidemic was officially announced on June 17, 1916. It spreads through contaminated food or water. The polio epidemic in New York City was attributed to a particularly contagious strain of poliovirus, worsened by inadequate sanitation and hygiene practices. The incident resulted in a vast number of cases, with fatalities exceeding 2,000.

The St. Francis Dam failure occurred on March 12, 1928, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The collapse resulted from inadequate foundation conditions, design errors, and an insufficient geological assessment. Over 430 people died in the collapse.

The Black Friday bushfires occurred on January 13, 1939, in Victoria, Australia. Extended periods of drought, coupled with elevated temperatures, dry summer conditions, and gusty winds, caused the ignition of the fire. The affected land area was 2,000,000 hectares, equivalent to approximately 4,900,000 acres. The incident resulted in 71 deaths and the destruction of 650 structures.

The 1947 Ramdas ship disaster occurred on July 17, 1947, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. Several contributing factors led to the disaster, particularly the intensity of the monsoon storm, the high passenger load, and stability deficiencies in the vessel. Ramdas was a ferry that carried passengers along the coast, traveling from Bombay to Rewas.

When the ship sank, 690 of the 713 people died.

The Daly City earthquake occurred on March 22, 1957, in San Francisco, California, United States. The event resulted from tectonic activity along the San Andreas Fault, primarily involving a rupture along an unknown fault plane. The earthquake registered a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale, affecting an extensive area of approximately 12,000 square miles.

The incident resulted in one fatality and reported forty injuries.

The Paramount Hotel explosion occurred on January 28, 1966, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The incident was triggered by a gas leak originating from a compromised gas main on Boylston Street, which resulted in gas leaking into the hotel's basement. The event took place around 6:45 pm, resulting in 11 people losing their lives and 66 others getting hurt.

The Granville rail disaster occurred on January 18, 1977, in Granville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Granville rail disaster resulted from insufficient track maintenance and deficiencies in bridge design, leading to a catastrophic failure of the bridge structure that ultimately collapsed onto the train.

The event led to the tragic loss of 84 lives and resulted in 213 people being injured.

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida, United States. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster resulted from a critical malfunction in the O-rings of the solid rocket boosters, particularly within the aft field joint.

The incident happened 73 seconds after the rocket took off, resulting in the tragic loss of all crew members on board.

The Swissair Flight 111 crash occurred on September 2, 1998, over the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada. Swissair Flight 111 experienced a catastrophic in-flight fire from an electrical short circuit within the cockpit, originating from the aircraft's entertainment system. All 229 individuals aboard the aircraft perished in the incident.