Hurricane Diane, the most destructive storm of the 1955 Atlantic
hurricane season, formed on August 7 and reached peak sustained winds
of 105 mph (170 km/h) as a Category 2 hurricane five days later.
Gradually weakening, it made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina,
as a strong tropical storm on August 17, just five days after Hurricane
Connie struck near the same area. After Diane turned northeast, its rain
clouds were amplified by moisture coming off warm Atlantic waters.
Eastern Pennsylvania suffered record floods, largely in the Poconos and
along the Delaware River, that killed 101 people and breached or
destroyed 30 dams. Damage was heaviest in Connecticut, where rainfall
peaked at 16.86 inches (428 mm); the storm effectively split the state
in two by destroying bridges and cutting communications, flooding all
major streams and valleys. Record-high tides and flooded rivers heavily
damaged Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In Massachusetts, floodwater levels
surpassed those during the 1938 Long Island hurricane, breaching
multiple dams. Nationwide, Diane killed at least 184 people and
destroyed or damaged 15,000 homes. Losses, including lost revenue,
topped $1 billion. In the hurricane's wake, eight states were declared
federal disaster areas, and the name Diane was retired.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Diane>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Ming Chinese general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the
Tianshun Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Cao_Qin>
1679:
Le Griffon, a brigantine built by René-Robert de La Salle,
became the first sailing ship to navigate the upper Great Lakes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Griffon>
1933:
An estimated 3,000 Assyrians were slaughtered by Iraqi troops
during the Simele massacre in the Dahuk and Mosul districts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simele_massacre>
1985:
In Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, England, a local magistrate and
his family were murdered in what The Times described as "a classic
whodunit".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Farm_murders>
1999:
The Chechnya-based Islamist militia group Islamic International
Brigade invaded the neighbouring Russian republic of Dagestan in support
of the Shura of Dagestan separatist movement.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Dagestan>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
green gown:
(now archaic, historical) A dress that has been stained green from
rolling in the grass; generally with allusion to sexual activity,
especially a woman's loss of virginity.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/green_gown>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on
Hiroshima and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy. That bomb had more
power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than two thousand times the
blast power of the British "Grand Slam" which is the largest bomb ever
yet used in the history of warfare. The Japanese began the war from the
air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. And the end is not
yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase
in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In
their present form these bombs are now in production and even more
powerful forms are in development. It is an atomic bomb. It is a
harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the
sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the
Far East.… The fact that we can release atomic energy ushers in a new
era in man's understanding of nature's forces.
--Harry S. Truman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman>