North America's Largest Recorded Earthquake March 27, 1964 A quake measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale hits near Prince William Sound, Alaska destroying property and causing about 139 deaths. An ensuing 27-foot (8.2 m) tsunami destroyed the village of Chenega, killing 23 of the 68 people who lived there. In all, 15 peop...

Polio Vaccine March 26, 1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announces he has discovered and successfully tested a polio vaccine on 90 adults and children. It was the first successful vaccine for the dreaded disease. Before the vaccine, there were about 15,000 cases of paralysis and 1,900 deaths annually from polio in the U.S. Salk cho...

Island in Danger of Tipping Over March 25, 2010 "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize." This concern was expressed by Congressman Hank Johnson during a House Armed Services Committee hearing about the U.S. military installation on the island of Gua...

Valdez Disaster March 24, 1989 An Exxon tanker spills 10.8 million gallons of oil off the coast of Alaska. It was the largest oil spill in U.S. history up to that time.

"Star Wars" Speech March 23, 1983 U.S. President Ronald Reagan gives what became known as the "Star Wars" speech outlining his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). It included the use of lasers to shoot down incoming Soviet ICBMs.