April 15, 2026
The Battle of Formigny (1450)
One of the first battles in which cannons played a pivotal, if not decisive, role, the Battle of Formigny was a major French victory toward the end of the Hundred Years' War. The English were dealt a significant blow—thousands of troops were killed, injured, or captured—and, as there were no other significant English forces in Normandy, the entire region quickly fell to the French. The battle had raged for several hours before the tides turned in favor of the French. What brought this about?
April 14, 2026
The Bombay Explosion (1944)
The SS Fort Stikine sailed from England in late February 1944 and made stops in Gibraltar, Egypt, and Pakistan before reaching Bombay, India, laden with a cargo of cotton bales, gold, explosives, and munitions. While the ship was berthed there, a fire broke out on board. Attempts to extinguish the fire failed, and a massive explosion soon tore the ship apart, sinking nearby vessels as well and igniting a massive blaze in the surrounding area. How many people were killed in the disaster?
April 13, 2026
The Chicago Flood (1992)
The source of the water pouring into the basements of buildings in the Chicago Loop area had not yet been identified when reports of live fish in the water began surfacing. This helped lead a reporter to the source of the flood—a leak in an old tunnel that ran underneath the Chicago River. It turned out that the leak had been discovered months earlier, but the city had failed to repair it in a timely fashion, allowing it to worsen and eventually inundate the area with how much river water?
