Today in History: Coal dust explosion kills 111 miners
Today in history:
On March 25, 1947, a coal dust explosion inside the Centralia Coal Co. Mine No. 5 in Washington County, Illinois, killed 111 miners; 31 survived.
Also on this date:
In 1894, Jacob S. Coxey began a march from Massillon (MA'-sih-luhn), Ohio, leading an 'army' of as many as 500 unemployed workers to Washington to demand help from the federal government.
In 1911, 146 people, mostly young female immigrants, were killed when a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. garment factory in New York; the tragedy led to legal reforms for workers' rights and workplace safety.
In 1931, in the so-called Scottsboro Boys case, nine young Black men were taken off a train in Alabama and accused of raping two white women; after years of convictions, death sentences and imprisonment, they were eventually vindicated.
In 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 people to the Alabama state Capitol in Montgomery, completing a five-day march from Selma to protest the denial of voting rights to Black Americans.
In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid. (Faisal bin Musaid was executed for the killing three months later.)
In 1990, 87 people were killed when fire raced through the Happy Land social club in New York City. (The fire was set by Julio Gonzalez, who had been thrown out of the club following an argument with his girlfriend; Gonzalez died in prison in 2016.)
In 1996, an 81-day standoff by the Montana Freemen, an antigovernment militia, began at a ranch near Jordan, Montana.
Today's Birthdays: Film critic Gene Shalit is 99. Former astronaut James Lovell is 97. Activist and author Gloria Steinem is 91. Musician Elton John is 78. Actor Bonnie Bedelia is 77. Actor Marcia Cross is 63. Author Kate DiCamillo is 61. Actor Lisa Gay Hamilton is 61. Actor Sarah Jessica Parker is 60. Baseball Hall of Famer Tom Glavine is 59. Comedian-actor Alex Moffat (TV: 'Saturday Night Live') is 43. Actor-singer Katharine McPhee is 41. Comedian-actor Chris Redd (TV: 'Saturday Night Live') is 40. Rapper Big Sean is 37. Actor Mikey Madison is 26.
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