World War I Begins…..
July 28, 1914……
The Great War, later known as World War I, begins when Austria declares war on Serbia in retaliation for the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip a month earlier. Soon other countries joined the conflict and the great war was on. More than 16 million people would die as a result of the war.
Forrestal Disaster…..
July 29, 1967……
Fire on USS Forrestal kills 134 people. While the ship was preparing to launch attacks on Vietnam, a rocket from one of its own F-4 Phantom jet fighters accidentally launched and struck several parked A-4 Skyhawk jets which were waiting to take off. One of the parked Skyhawks was piloted by John McCain, the future U.S. senator from Arizona. The fuel from the Skyhawks spilled onto the ship’s deck and caught fire. Compounding the disaster were the presence of outdated and volatile bombs that began exploding in the fire. Some of the bombs dated back to 1953 and had been stored on the deck, as it was felt they were too unstable to store with the rest of the ordnance. It was determined by investigators that a surge in the jet’s electrical system caused its rocket to fire. This would have been prevented had proper safety procedures been followed. A pigtail that allowed the rocket to fire was not supposed to be installed until the jet was ready for launch. However, it had been installed earlier in order to speed up the launch procedure. It is also believed that a second safety device, that also would have prevented the rocket launch, had blown off due to high winds.
Jimmy Hoffa Disappears……
July 30, 1975…..
The ex-teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa is last seen outside of a Detroit, Michigan restaurant. He said he was going there to meet with two mafia leaders. Hoffa was Teamster boss from 1957 to 1971, playing a major role in the growth and development of the Teamsters union, which eventually became the largest in the U.S. with over 2.3 million members. Hoffa was involved with organized crime during his Teamsters work and in 1964 was convicted of jury tampering, attempted bribery, and fraud. He was sentenced to 13 years and imprisoned in 1967. In 1971, he resigned as president of the union as part of a pardon agreement with President Richard Nixon.