Today in History: December 28th WORST EUROPEAN EARTHQUAKE: December 28, 1908 At dawn, the most destructive earthquake in recorded European history strikes the Straits of Messina in southern Italy, leveling the cities of Messina in Sicily and Reggio di Calabria on the Italian mainland. The earthquake and tsunami it caused killed an estimated 100,000 people.Sicily and Calabria are known as la terra ballerina--"the dancing land"--for the periodic seismic activity that strikes the region. In 1693, 60,000 people were killed in southern Sicily by an earthquake, and in 1783 most of the Tyrrenian coast of Calabria was razed by a massive earthquake that killed 50,000. The quake of 1908 was particularly costly in terms of human life because it struck at 5:20 a.m. without warning, catching most people at home in bed rather than in the relative safety of the streets or fields.The main shock, registering an estimated 7.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, caused a devastating tsunami with 40-foot waves that washed over coastal towns and cities. The two major cities on either side of the Messina Straits--Messina and Reggio di Calabria--had some 90 percent of their buildings destroyed. Telegraph lines were cut and railway lines were damaged, hampering relief efforts. To make matters worse, the major quake on the 28th was followed by hundreds of smaller tremors over subsequent days, bringing down many of the remaining buildings and injuring or killing rescuers. On December 30, King Victor Emmanuel III arrived aboard the battleship Napoli to inspect the devastation.Meanwhile, a steady rain fell on the ruined cities, forcing the dazed and injured survivors, clad only in their nightclothes, to take shelter in caves, grottoes, and impromptu shacks built out of materials salvaged from the collapsed buildings. Veteran sailors could barely recognize the shoreline because long stretches of the coast had sunk several feet into the Messina Strait. ------------------------------------------------------------------ MORE GENERAL INTEREST 1895 Motion pictures shown 1832 Calhoun resigns vice presidency 1869 America's first Labor Day 1989 Dubcek returns to public office historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=general&month=10272964&day=10272993 AMER. REVOLUTION 1781 British post troops on John’s Island historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=americanrevolution&month=10272964&day=10272993 AUTOMOTIVE 1954 Slow Demise Of The Hudson Hornet historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=automotive&month=10272964&day=10272993 CIVIL WAR 1822 William Booth Taliaferro born historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=civil&month=10272964&day=10272993 COLD WAR 1973 Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago published historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=coldwar&month=10272964&day=10272993 CRIME 1793 An American hero is arrested in France historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=crime&month=10272964&day=10272993 ENTERTAINMENT 1947 Wynonie Harris records "Good Rockin' Tonight" historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=entertainment&month=10272964&day=10272993 LITERARY 1932 Argentine novelist Manuel Puig is born historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=literary&month=10272964&day=10272993 OLD WEST 1900 Carry Nation attacks a Kansas saloon historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=oldwest&month=10272964&day=10272993 VIETNAM WAR 1972 Hanoi announces return to the Paris peace talks historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=vietnamwar&month=10272964&day=10272993 WALL STREET 1929 Birth of a Top UAW Official historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=wallstreet&month=10272964&day=10272993 WORLD WAR I 1856 Woodrow Wilson is born historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=worldwari&month=10272964&day=10272993 WORLD WAR II 1941 Request made for creation of construction battalions historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=worldwarii&month=10272964&day=10272993