Join WatchMojo as we explore the most extraordinary moments that brought global activity to a complete halt. From human errors to technological milestones, we'll dive deep into events that dramatically changed our world and captured universal attention.
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00:00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're delving into the infamous events that halted the hustle
00:00:08and bustle of everyday life and made the world stand still.
00:00:13And we're starting with the human errors that cost the world dearly.
00:00:23Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most consequential
00:00:27mistakes in history.
00:00:29Even 20 minutes after the disaster, the controllers in the tower still have no idea how serious
00:00:35things are.
00:00:3710.
00:00:38The 2024 CrowdStrike Incident
00:00:48Before July 19th, 2024, few people had ever heard of CrowdStrike.
00:00:52It's amazing how much damage just one day can do.
00:00:56CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company based out of Austin, Texas, that caused about $10
00:01:00billion in damage on the morning of July 19th.
00:01:04CrowdStrike made an update to its Falcon sensor software, but a bug caused the software to
00:01:09crash.
00:01:10Officials in Europe were already getting a grasp on how bad the issue was.
00:01:14Germany's cybersecurity chief warned people it would be a long day.
00:01:19Systems running Microsoft Windows crashed, resulting in the largest outage in world history.
00:01:24The results were devastating and disrupted nearly all aspects of daily life, upending
00:01:29banks, hospitals, air transport and retail.
00:01:32It just goes to show how fragile our tech-heavy existence truly is.
00:01:37Ambulance services across the country have reported a surge in demand as a result.
00:01:42But if you have an urgent problem, you should contact your own GP surgery, either in person
00:01:48or by telephone.
00:01:499.
00:01:50Pickett's Charge
00:01:58Confederate General Robert E. Lee made the biggest mistake of his life on July 3rd, 1863,
00:02:03when he ordered his troops to charge on Cemetery Ridge.
00:02:06There were several flaws in Lee's plan.
00:02:08Union General George G. Meade had anticipated Lee's attack on the center of his lines rather
00:02:14than the flanks, and concentrated his defenses there.
00:02:17Now, Pickett gave the order,
00:02:20Up men and to your posts.
00:02:23Don't forget today that you are from old Virginia.
00:02:26The charge exposed Confederate soldiers to heavy artillery and rifle fire, and the army
00:02:31suffered catastrophic casualties.
00:02:33It effectively crippled the Confederate forces at Gettysburg and forced Lee to abandon the
00:02:38battle and retreat from the north.
00:02:40With this one simple change, the tide of the American Civil War permanently shifted, all
00:02:45to the detriment of Lee and his forces.
00:02:47What's happening?
00:02:48I can't see.
00:02:49What's happening to my boys?
00:02:50What's happening to my boys?
00:02:518.
00:02:52The Cedar Fire
00:02:53It's gigantic.
00:02:54You never imagine it's as big as that, until it happened.
00:03:04Imagine accidentally starting a fire that burns over 270,000 acres of land and kills
00:03:1015 people.
00:03:11The guilt would be unimaginable.
00:03:13Sergio Martinez was a novice hunter who got lost in the Kayamaka Mountains of Southern
00:03:17California in October 2003 and started a fire to signal potential rescuers.
00:03:23Afraid he was going to die in the wilderness, he finally set a signal fire, which got out
00:03:29of control.
00:03:30But the flames quickly spread to the nearby Chaparral, and he lost control of the fire.
00:03:35The low humidity and Santa Ana winds exacerbated the destruction, and the fire burned through
00:03:40273,000 acres of San Diego County.
00:03:44Nearly 3,000 buildings were destroyed, and 15 people lost their lives.
00:03:49Martinez was given five years probation and 960 hours of community service.
00:03:54If you take a look down Fairbrook here, Fairbrook Place, this is just something you'd probably
00:03:59see in a movie.
00:04:00That's the only way to describe it.
00:04:027.
00:04:03Germany invades Russia
00:04:05In the summer of 1941, Hitler orders a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, catching his
00:04:12ally completely off guard.
00:04:15Back in 1812, Napoleon tried invading Russia.
00:04:18It didn't work.
00:04:19Like, it really didn't work.
00:04:21Over 100 years later, Hitler made the same mistake, and to equally devastating results.
00:04:26The entire world watched with bated breath as Nazi Germany invaded Russia in Operation
00:04:31Barbarossa.
00:04:32It was a catastrophic military blunder, owing mainly to insurmountable Soviet strength,
00:04:45the vastness of the territory, and the brutal winter conditions that crippled German forces.
00:04:50Despite having the largest invasion force in the history of warfare, Operation Barbarossa
00:04:55was a monumental failure.
00:04:57The Soviets successfully repelled the Germans, leading to massive casualties and ultimately
00:05:02turning the tide of World War II, and for that matter, the entire 20th century.
00:05:116.
00:05:13The Deepwater Horizon oil spill
00:05:22A multitude of factors went into the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.
00:05:26A central mistake was the failure to correctly respond to the signs of impending disaster.
00:05:32Pressure tests indicated that the well was not properly sealed, but the readings were
00:05:36misinterpreted.
00:05:44This error was compounded by a rush to complete the drilling operation, driven largely by
00:05:49cost-cutting pressures, leading to the decision to proceed with the operation despite warning
00:05:55signs.
00:05:56The consequence of failures ultimately triggered the calamitous explosion that killed 11 people
00:06:01and sent 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
00:06:115.
00:06:12The Exxon Valdez oil spill
00:06:19Before Deepwater Horizon, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was the largest in American history,
00:06:24dumping more than 10 million gallons into Alaska's Prince William Sound.
00:06:28But this accident was far less complex, and is attributed almost entirely to human error.
00:06:34Shortly after midnight on March 24th, 1989, the tanker ran aground on Bly Reef, puncturing
00:06:40eight of its eleven cargo holds.
00:06:46At the time, Captain Joe Hazelwood was below decks, sleeping off, quote, two or three vodkas
00:06:52he had consumed earlier.
00:06:54Furthermore, the crew was overworked and exhausted, contributing to third mate Gregory Cousins
00:06:59driving the vessel into the reef.
00:07:01Part of the blame also reportedly lay on the Exxon shipping company for failing to maintain
00:07:06the ship's collision-avoidance system.
00:07:114.
00:07:14The Tenerife Airport Disaster
00:07:23This disaster on Spain's Canary Islands in March 1977 remains the deadliest accident
00:07:28in aviation history, costing 583 lives.
00:07:32Los Rodeos Airport was congested due to a bomb explosion at Gran Canaria.
00:07:37Exacerbating this was a dense fog rolling into the airport.
00:07:41KLM Flight 4805 took off in the fog and crashed into Pan Am Flight 1736, which was still taxiing
00:07:49on the runway.
00:07:50It feels great to be alive.
00:07:53I'd be lying if I said anything else.
00:07:55An investigation found that the accident resulted from critical miscommunication between KLM
00:08:01Captain Jacob Veldhuyzen-Van Zanten and air traffic control.
00:08:05Ambiguous and non-standard wording led Veldhuyzen-Van Zanten to commence takeoff without proper clearance,
00:08:12resulting in the tragic collision.
00:08:13When I got out on the ground, I could hear people screaming and yelling and all.
00:08:18Within about five minutes, you heard absolutely nothing.
00:08:21There was no noise at all.
00:08:25Number 3.
00:08:26Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
00:08:27As recorded on E-207 and E-204, the first visual indication that the anomalous plume
00:08:33penetrated the external tank was seen at 64.66 seconds as an abrupt change in the shape and
00:08:39color of the plume.
00:08:41Roughly 40 million people tuned in to watch NASA's Challenger launch into space in 1986.
00:08:46Unfortunately, the launch was plagued by freezing temperatures.
00:08:50Engineers were worried that the cold could compromise the integrity of the O-ring seals
00:08:54in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters.
00:08:56The cold made the rubber less resilient, leading to a weakened seal which could allow hot gas
00:09:02to escape the booster.
00:09:03We have a report from the flight dynamics officer that the vehicle has exploded.
00:09:07Flight director confirms that.
00:09:09We are looking at checking with the recovery forces to see what can be done at this point.
00:09:15Engineers at SRB manufacturer Morton Thiokol recommended against launching, but after internal
00:09:20discussion, management gave the go-ahead.
00:09:23Challenger launched, and the O-ring failed just as predicted, causing the shuttle to
00:09:27break apart and killing all seven crew members.
00:09:30My job began just at the time that this tragic accident occurred, and I was not permitted
00:09:38to have emotional feelings about it.
00:09:42Number 2.
00:09:43The sinking of the Titanic.
00:09:51What did you see?
00:09:52Iceberg!
00:09:53Get ahead, sir!
00:09:54Numerous factors went into the sinking of the Titanic.
00:09:56The crew were warned of icebergs in the vicinity several times that fateful day on April 14,
00:10:011912, but these warnings were largely ignored.
00:10:04Not only that, but the Titanic was traveling at a reckless speed of 22.5 knots through
00:10:10the area, relying solely on the crow's nest to spot impending obstacles.
00:10:20This was done mainly to bolster public image, as Atlantic liners had a reputation for being
00:10:25fast and on time.
00:10:27As a result, ships often traveled at full speed and treated warnings as mere advisories.
00:10:32But in this case, the iceberg was spotted too late, and the ship was going too fast
00:10:37to avoid it.
00:10:38Roughly 1,500 people lost their lives.
00:10:51Number 1.
00:10:52The Chernobyl disaster.
00:11:00As anyone who watched the masterful HBO show would know, Chernobyl was an accident waiting
00:11:05to happen.
00:11:06And it did, on the morning of April 26, 1986.
00:11:10The nuclear plant was, ironically, running a safety test and pushing the reactor to its
00:11:14limits.
00:11:15Unfortunately, operator errors and inadequate safety protocols caused a catastrophic surge
00:11:21in power inside of the reactor.
00:11:29This combined with cheap building materials led to a massive steam explosion, which ruptured
00:11:34the reactor vessel and released a substantial amount of radiation into the atmosphere.
00:11:39The disaster cost untold lives, damaged the surrounding area, and cost hundreds of billions
00:11:45of dollars, making it the costliest disaster in human history.
00:12:00The 90s was a decade that gave us plenty of technological advancements, historical
00:12:11milestones, culture shifts, and it also provided events that captured global attention.
00:12:17Take a look.
00:12:23Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those unexpected and notable
00:12:29moments from the 90s that left our mouths ajar with nothing to say.
00:12:34This was a tragedy that the entire country got to watch in real time.
00:12:39Number 10.
00:12:40Tyson Bites Ear.
00:12:41So, we go back in, then all of a sudden, you bit this ear, and I just, wasn't it the same
00:12:48one?
00:12:49Boxing fans expect a lot of things.
00:12:51They expect to see guys punch each other, they expect guys to get hurt, tired, maybe
00:12:56even a little bloody.
00:12:58But until 1997, they never expected to see one guy bite off a piece of the other guy's
00:13:04ear.
00:13:05That's exactly what happened, though, in the third round of the Evander Holyfield vs. Mike
00:13:10Tyson fight on June 28th of that year.
00:13:13He bit his ear, I can see the bite mark.
00:13:16He bit his ear, he's out.
00:13:17Two point deduction, the fight will go on.
00:13:20Tyson, frustrated with Holyfield's headbutting, chomped off a piece of his right ear and spit
00:13:25it out.
00:13:26Later in the round, he bit the left ear.
00:13:28And talk about the unexpected, this moment came seven years after Tyson had shocked the
00:13:33world in 1990, getting himself knocked out by the 42-to-1 underdog, Buster Douglas.
00:13:39Oh, nice uppercut by Buster Douglas, look at this, he's knocked Mike Tyson down.
00:13:45Number 9.
00:13:46The Death of Kurt Cobain.
00:13:47Cobain, love said, had grown weary of career pressures and was unhappy with Nirvana.
00:13:52As a founder of the band Nirvana, a father of the grunge music scene and one of the most
00:13:57important and influential voices of his generation, Kurt Cobain said a lot with his music.
00:14:03And yet, his death via a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on April 5th, 1994, left
00:14:09us all speechless.
00:14:11You can think about him as one story of rock and roll, right, of the youth that burns out
00:14:16way too early.
00:14:17We've had too many like that.
00:14:19Since his passing, though, it seems like everyone has had something to say about Cobain
00:14:23and various conspiracy theories regarding his passing.
00:14:27But for that one moment, there were really no words for the shock that came with the
00:14:31news that the world had lost an icon.
00:14:34We also can't forget the shocking death of another music icon two years later, when
00:14:39Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas.
00:14:42So if there was an accomplice that helped commit this murder, they still are looking
00:14:46for that person.
00:14:47Number 8.
00:14:48The death of Princess Diana.
00:14:50Diana, Princess of Wales, has in fact been killed in that car accident in Paris.
00:14:57There have been many shocking deaths throughout history, but few deaths shocked the entire
00:15:01world more than that of Princess Diana on August 31st, 1997.
00:15:07Diana was beloved around the globe, and the report of the Paris car crash that put her
00:15:12in the hospital was breaking news that evening, and pretty much all everyone was talking about
00:15:17for days to follow.
00:15:19The world is in shock.
00:15:20Diana, Princess of Wales is dead, and Britain is in mourning.
00:15:24The outpouring of sadness around the world cannot truly be understood if you weren't
00:15:29around at that time.
00:15:30But the fact that 2.5 billion people watched her funeral live on television on September
00:15:366th indicates the impact of her passing.
00:15:39Each time I drive through this tunnel, each time I come and I walk here, it's still
00:15:44quite vivid, and the memory, the image are printed in my memory.
00:15:49Number 7.
00:15:50Ayrton Senna's crash.
00:15:52There's only one word that describes Ayrton's style, and that is fast.
00:15:59Three years before the car crash that took the life of Princess Diana, another car crash
00:16:04left people speechless, especially fans of Formula One racing.
00:16:08On May 1st, 1994, Ayrton Senna was leading the San Marino Grand Prix when, on lap 7,
00:16:16his car ran off the track and hit a concrete barrier at 131 miles per hour.
00:16:22Even at racing speed, Tamburello is not a corner that you would make a mistake on.
00:16:27Something on the car would have to go wrong.
00:16:29Senna died on the scene.
00:16:31The day before, another driver, Roland Ratzenberger, had crashed and died during the qualifying
00:16:37run.
00:16:39While those accidents were shocking and tragic, Senna's death did lead Formula One to create
00:16:44a series of new safety protocols to better protect their drivers.
00:16:48Maybe the power steering failed.
00:16:50Maybe it was the tire temperatures that made the car skate straight off the road.
00:16:56It will always be a mystery.
00:16:57Number 6.
00:16:58O.J. Simpson is found not guilty.
00:17:01We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not
00:17:06guilty of the crime of murder.
00:17:08There are few moments in history that are so big that everyone remembers where they
00:17:12were when it happened.
00:17:14The O.J. Simpson verdict is one of those moments.
00:17:17If we're being honest, the entire O.J. case is one of those moments.
00:17:21From the low-speed chase in the white Bronco, watched by 95 million people, to the trial
00:17:26itself and the aforementioned verdict.
00:17:28Are they in order?
00:17:29Yes, your honor.
00:17:30Do you have sign and date of those verdict forms?
00:17:32Yes, your honor.
00:17:33Thank you very much.
00:17:34The O.J. Simpson murder case took over our lives from June of 1994 until the verdict
00:17:40in October of 1995.
00:17:42It felt like everyone had an opinion about the case, the evidence, and Simpson's guilt.
00:17:48And 57% of the country, 150 million people, found themselves in front of a television
00:17:54on October 3rd, 1995 to witness the verdict live.
00:17:58We, the jury, in the above entitled action, find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson,
00:18:06not guilty.
00:18:07Number five, Bosnian War.
00:18:10Shilling words from the man they called the butcher of Bosnia, General Ratko Mladic.
00:18:15The snide humor masked his killer instinct.
00:18:18Rather than just one moment, this is an event that left us speechless for three years as
00:18:23this horrible and brutal war raged on between 1992 and 1995 in the then region of Bosnia
00:18:31and Herzegovina.
00:18:32Moments of violence, destruction, and ethnic cleansing had the rest of the world looking
00:18:36on in horror.
00:18:37You just can't imagine that tomorrow someone will bomb you or shoot at you.
00:18:42In the end, over 60 people were convicted of war crimes and more than 100,000 people
00:18:47lost their lives, with 2.2 million more finding themselves displaced.
00:18:52It was the most disastrous conflict Europe had experienced since the end of World War II.
00:18:58Psychotherapist Selma Bocevac is a Bosnian refugee who uses her experience to help other
00:19:04survivors heal from the long-term trauma of the war.
00:19:08Number four, Operation Desert Storm.
00:19:10You get four to six hellfires en route, the time of flight's about 12 seconds, and then
00:19:17all of a sudden they start hitting.
00:19:19Operation Desert Storm was the second part of the Gulf War, which took place between
00:19:241990 and 1991.
00:19:27Part one, known as Operation Desert Shield, began in August of 1990 and involved the build-up
00:19:33of military forces by the American-led coalition following Iraq's invasion and occupation
00:19:39of Kuwait.
00:19:40Every war is different.
00:19:42Hura.
00:19:43Every war is the same.
00:19:48Phase two, Operation Desert Storm, was the use of all that military might, starting with
00:19:54massive aerial bombings on January 17th, 1991.
00:19:59Bombing that we all watched live, every day on the news.
00:20:03On February 24th, the ground war began, and 100 hours later the war was over and Kuwait
00:20:10was liberated.
00:20:11And all the jarheads, killing and dying, they will always be me.
00:20:23Number three, Waco Siege.
00:20:25The raid was unsuccessful.
00:20:26And then all hell broke loose.
00:20:29Just bullets flying into the building, going through the walls.
00:20:31On February 28th, 1993, the ATF had planned on raiding the ranch in Waco, Texas that was
00:20:37home to the Branch Davidians religious cult.
00:20:40They suspected the Davidians of stockpiling illegal weapons and planned a surprise raid
00:20:45to serve their search warrants.
00:20:47If we come out of that compound with a bunch of innocent kids and loaded guns, it might
00:20:53remind Congress why they knew us.
00:20:55Well, through a series of events, the group was warned in advance and were armed and ready
00:20:59when the ATF showed up.
00:21:01What followed was a 51-day siege that ended on April 19th when the Davidians set the compound
00:21:07on fire in response to the FBI throwing in tear gas.
00:21:11In the end, the loss of life included four federal agents and 82 Branch Davidians.
00:21:17For me, the culprit of Waco, even after 30 years of looking at this, is clearly David
00:21:22Kress.
00:21:23Number two, Rodney King beating, LA riots.
00:21:2630 years ago today, Rodney King was beaten by LAPD officers.
00:21:31That attack captured on video for all to see.
00:21:34With the advent of smartphones, footage of black men being the victims of police brutality
00:21:39has become all too common.
00:21:41But it's been going on for a lot longer than that, and the 1990s was no exception.
00:21:46When video footage of Rodney King being beaten by four police officers hit the news, it hit
00:21:51us all right in the guts.
00:21:53LAPD gonna have a real good time on that level three prison yard, you know what I'm saying?
00:21:56To see him lying on the ground as the officers kicked, stomped, clubbed and stunned him was,
00:22:02and still is, so hard to watch.
00:22:05But as speechless as that left us all, when the officers were acquitted by a jury, many
00:22:10black residents of Los Angeles couldn't keep quiet any longer.
00:22:14And for six days, LA was on fire, literally and metaphorically.
00:22:19We're looking at you and the, and the, uh, in South Central, Linda, where you are.
00:22:23Are the television cameras making these people do some of these things they wouldn't otherwise
00:22:27be doing?
00:22:28Number one, Oklahoma City attack.
00:22:30On April 19th, 1993, the 51-day Waco siege ended.
00:22:35On April 19th, 1995, a truck bomb blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
00:22:42City.
00:22:43That date wasn't a coincidence.
00:22:45Timothy McVeigh picked it because his attack was set in motion by the siege at Waco and
00:22:50what he saw as the government's growing control and regulations on private citizens.
00:22:55Why someone would do something of this magnitude, it's just, it's unreal.
00:23:03Especially when it came to guns.
00:23:06The bombing was, and still is, the deadliest act of domestic terrorism the United States
00:23:11has ever seen.
00:23:12And those who saw it, whether in person or on television, were no doubt left speechless
00:23:18in sadness.
00:23:19It was the worst terrorist act in American history, and Timothy McVeigh could now be
00:23:23sentenced to death.
00:23:24Which of these moments left you the most speechless?
00:23:28They're cowardly.
00:23:30They're unspeakably shameless.
00:23:32All right, we're now going to dig into the moments that urged us to rethink the consequences
00:23:39of human action.
00:23:41Here now are man-made disasters that shook our world.
00:23:45It's almost certainly the most severe accident that has ever taken place in the short history
00:23:50of civilian nuclear power.
00:23:52Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most devastating disasters caused by
00:23:57human error that shocked people around the world.
00:24:00On the evening of the third day, the smog was at its very worst.
00:24:07The Aberfan Disaster, Aberfan, Wales.
00:24:10Keeping home and business close can sometimes lead to horrific consequences.
00:24:15The village of Aberfan learned this firsthand in 1966.
00:24:19By about 1966, the coal industry was still booming in south Wales.
00:24:23The local colliery had been dumping waste onto mynydd merthyr above the village of Aberfan
00:24:28for some time.
00:24:29The residential area is located at the bottom of a hill containing several piles of waste
00:24:35accumulated during mining.
00:24:37Although the material is sensitive to water, the National Coal Board knowingly constructed
00:24:42them over the site of a natural spring.
00:24:44That waterway, combined with weeks of rain, caused it to break loose and careen toward
00:24:49Aberfan.
00:24:50And on the morning of the 21st, a subsidence caused that slurry to come crashing down like
00:24:55an avalanche into the village.
00:24:57Besides destroying homes, it hit a school, leading to the deaths of five teachers and
00:25:02over 100 students.
00:25:03The NCB was eventually found to be at fault, although none of its board members faced any
00:25:08repercussions.
00:25:09This tragedy was, in fact, avoidable, with the blame resting entirely on the National
00:25:15Coal Board.
00:25:16Shockingly, they even attempted to offer victims a mere £50 each.
00:25:21Centralia Fire, Centralia, United States of America.
00:25:25While some human-caused catastrophes last a few days and are eventually resolved, others
00:25:29have been ongoing for decades, with no end in sight.
00:25:33It all began back in May 1962, when local officials unwittingly sparked an underground
00:25:39fire.
00:25:40Up until 1962, Centralia was a normal town in Pennsylvania.
00:25:45That year, officials decided that the best way to clear out a strip mine-turned-landfill
00:25:50was by burning it, a practice that had been outlawed.
00:25:53No one knows for sure how the blaze reached the coal, but it's possible that the pit hadn't
00:25:58been properly lined before the fire.
00:26:03As the trash burned, the townsfolk didn't realize it had ignited the coal beneath it.
00:26:09Nevertheless, they ignored the law and started the fire on May 27th, and it has been burning
00:26:14ever since.
00:26:15It had near-immediate effects, creating sinkholes and high levels of carbon monoxide, leading
00:26:20to severe health problems.
00:26:22By 1992, Centralia had been condemned, and most of its citizens bought out.
00:26:27Centralia, it was just finally a matter of money.
00:26:29It's going to cost more to dig this huge barrier and surround the coal and just buy
00:26:35everybody out.
00:26:36And so they decided to buy everybody out as a cheaper alternative.
00:26:39However, you can still visit today and see the steam rising from the 60-year-old blaze.
00:26:46Minamata Disease, Minamata, Japan.
00:26:48This is truly the stuff of nightmares.
00:26:50For decades, the Chiso Corporation in Minamata, Japan, dumped water treated with heavy metals
00:26:57like mercury and lead into local waterways.
00:27:00And researchers soon worked out that the contamination was coming from the fish, their flesh full
00:27:05of mercury.
00:27:06But it took months before it was traced back to a chemical plant run by the chemical giant
00:27:11Chiso, which since 1951 had been discharging a derivative of mercury into the bay.
00:27:17Not only did this harm native fish, it also had a direct impact on those eating them,
00:27:22humans included.
00:27:23It wasn't until a child fell ill in 1956 that people even realized they'd been eating
00:27:28contaminated food.
00:27:30Many people had fallen ill, all in this area.
00:27:34There was a great deal of concern that it was contagious.
00:27:38The girl's symptoms, ranging from difficulty speaking to convulsions, began to appear in
00:27:42others.
00:27:43This neurological disorder, eventually named Minamata Disease, afflicted thousands of people,
00:27:48with nearly 2,500 individuals officially diagnosed by 2001.
00:27:53Nearly a decade after the discovery in Minamata, a similar outbreak occurred in Niigata, another
00:27:58Japanese region, due to pollution from an electrical company.
00:28:01I would like the whole world to understand the dangers of pollution.
00:28:06We humans should never make the same mistake again.
00:28:09Not ever.
00:28:10Gulf War Oil Spill, Persian Gulf.
00:28:13War has caused some truly brutal acts to be committed throughout history, and this is
00:28:17by far one of the most senseless.
00:28:19Saddam's latest terror weapon assaulted the beaches of Saudi Arabia today.
00:28:24Saudi officials call it a catastrophe.
00:28:26It is already history's largest oil spill.
00:28:29During the 1991 Gulf War, things escalated to a point no one saw coming.
00:28:34In an attempt to prevent United States troops from invading, Saddam Hussein allegedly ordered
00:28:39a massive, continuous oil spill into the Persian Gulf.
00:28:43It lasted for a week, with thousands of tons being dumped daily.
00:28:46It was one of the first victims of the disaster, struggling to free themselves from its grip.
00:28:52It coated the feathers of marine birds, leading to an estimated 30,000 perishing.
00:28:57A 1993 study claiming the long-term environmental impact would be insignificant has sparked
00:29:03continuous debates since.
00:29:05Considered one of the first real acts of eco-terrorism, this has remained one of the largest leaks
00:29:10in human history.
00:29:11The Sierra Club, for instance, said that dumping could destroy the Gulf for decades, limiting
00:29:15fishing and the food supply.
00:29:17And if it spread far enough down the Gulf, the oil could clog desalination plants that
00:29:22supply most of the region's drinking water.
00:29:25Montana Asbestos Cloud, Libby, United States of America.
00:29:28At one point, their resources made them an epicenter of mining, but that prosperity came
00:29:33with unforeseen circumstances.
00:29:35Libby got news of one of the worst environmental bombshells in Northwest history, widespread
00:29:39asbestos contamination from years of vermiculite extraction at the W.R. Grace mine.
00:29:44Libby, Montana, used to be the source of 80% of the world's supply of vermiculite,
00:29:49a mineral that's utilized in heating and insulation.
00:29:52What the citizens weren't aware of is that it contained asbestos, small fibers that wreak
00:29:57havoc on the lungs.
00:29:58The firm, W.R. Grace and Company, were allegedly aware of this, but still sent workers into
00:30:03the mines daily.
00:30:05Hundreds of workers contracted lung cancer and other diseases from working at the mine,
00:30:09which was contaminated with asbestos.
00:30:11As a result, both laborers and the residents were exposed, causing nearly 10% of the population
00:30:17to die.
00:30:18By 2009, the government stepped in to provide over $100 million in aid and prosecute the
00:30:24company.
00:30:25However, they were acquitted soon afterwards.
00:30:27The end of the active cleanup operations is a success, but one mixed with an economic
00:30:31impact.
00:30:32Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska.
00:30:35While accidents are unintentional by default, not all are defensible.
00:30:39In 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez was transporting oil from Alaska when the unimaginable happened.
00:30:46One of the worst oil spills in U.S. history brought Americans images of blackened beaches,
00:30:52dying wildlife, outrage, and betrayal.
00:30:55During the shipping process, only one officer was left on the bridge, a direct violation
00:31:00of company policy.
00:31:01He was unable to change courses and made direct contact with a nearby reef.
00:31:06Nearly 6 million gallons of oil spilled within the first few hours.
00:31:10Neither Exxon nor Alyeska, the oil pipeline company in charge of the immediate response,
00:31:15was ready for such a large spill.
00:31:18Alyeska was supposed to have an emergency response team at its terminal in Valdez, but
00:31:22eight years ago, the team was disbanded.
00:31:25The cleanup alone was disastrous, causing employees and volunteers to fall ill.
00:31:30The environmental impact was even greater, with hundreds of thousands of animals dying.
00:31:35Blame was heaped on the captain of the tanker, who was allegedly intoxicated at the time,
00:31:40and he was eventually convicted of a misdemeanor.
00:31:42Today, not only is it no longer the largest, but there are more than 50 spills worldwide
00:31:49that have surpassed what happened here.
00:31:51Great Smog of London, London, England.
00:31:53By the 1950s, many cities had fully embraced industrialization, and London was no exception.
00:31:59It started on the 5th of December, fog laid a blanket over the London area.
00:32:04The cold weather at the time led to an increased amount of coal being burned, with residents
00:32:09relying on a lesser-quality version high in sulfur dioxide.
00:32:13In 1952, an anticyclone and a lack of wind caused the city's pollutants to be trapped
00:32:19in the air, which severely reduced visibility and triggered intense respiratory issues.
00:32:24Quite a number of people had bronchitis because of industrial pollution exposure and because
00:32:31they smoked.
00:32:33When they breathed polluted air, this became very hard for them.
00:32:39The smog remained for four days before a breeze finally rolled through and broke it.
00:32:44Initially, it was reported that around 4,000 people died, but modern estimates put the
00:32:48death toll at approximately 12,000.
00:32:51This disaster was so severe that it prompted the British Parliament to enact the Clean
00:32:56Air Act of 1956.
00:32:58We still had smog, but as time went on, we had the availability of smokeless fuels like
00:33:04natural gas, like oil.
00:33:07Without that, we'd have been in a bad way.
00:33:10Bhopal disaster, Bhopal, India.
00:33:13Some chemicals that were created to be helpful have devastating effects on our health.
00:33:17The scenes are simply hellish.
00:33:19So much suffering from India's invisible killer.
00:33:22At one point, an official said one death was being recorded every minute from the poison
00:33:26gas leak in the city of Bhopal.
00:33:28In 1984, the citizens of Bhopal learned this firsthand when several avoidable factors,
00:33:34like malfunctioning safety equipment and clogged pipes, caused one of the worst chemical disasters
00:33:39in history.
00:33:40Union Carbide India Limited, a U.S.-owned factory, accidentally leaked highly toxic
00:33:46methyl isocyanate into the air and surrounding neighborhoods.
00:33:50At 74, she is bent but hardly broken by what she has seen.
00:33:54She tries to comfort by listening, these men saying, we can hardly see anymore.
00:34:00Most residents were asleep at the time, giving them no chance to evacuate.
00:34:04Over 500,000 people were impacted, with nearly a third being children.
00:34:09The death toll skyrocketed, and survivors endured physical, neurological, and emotional
00:34:14scars.
00:34:15Ultimately, the company was held accountable and ordered to pay $470 million to those affected
00:34:21in 1989.
00:34:23BP Deepwater Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico
00:34:26Although it may be the most recent oil spill on this list, it's by far one of the worst.
00:34:31The U.S. Coast Guard received a mayday from the bridge and flashed this distress call.
00:34:36The Deepwater Horizon on fire, with all persons off the vessel, the person in the water.
00:34:41BP's tanker Deepwater Horizon was supposed to have a mechanism in place to prevent methane
00:34:46gas from getting through the pipes, but those valves failed.
00:34:50This caused the gas to rise into the drilling rig, triggering a massive explosion that killed
00:34:5511 workers.
00:34:56This was just the beginning.
00:34:57BP had an opportunity to explain to the American people, and quite frankly, they blew it.
00:35:02He was going to do whatever he could to protect the company.
00:35:05An estimated 210 million gallons of oil then leaked, destroying whole ecosystems in the
00:35:10process.
00:35:11The spill had disastrous effects on local marine life, with some species mutating to
00:35:16have gaping sores and no eyes.
00:35:19Money from the Restore Act is now making its way to coastal communities to help restore
00:35:25the Gulf.
00:35:26In 2011, BP was officially blamed, but despite several criminal charges, none of those involved
00:35:32received any prison time.
00:35:33Chernobyl disaster.
00:35:35Pripyat, Ukraine.
00:35:37When most people think of easily preventable tragedies, this one often comes to mind.
00:35:41And it's clear to see why.
00:35:42They wanted to see whether the reactor could still be cooled if the plant lost power.
00:35:48So they violated safety protocols and several power surges occurred inside the reactor.
00:35:54In April 1986, operators at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine attempted an
00:36:00experiment to cool the reactor to test its performance during an emergency.
00:36:05A combination of an accidental power dip and a design flaw within the machine resulted
00:36:10in an unexpected power surge.
00:36:12But the fact that they've had to reveal it and admit that there are casualties suggests
00:36:16they're deeply worried about the scale of it.
00:36:19This caused a giant meltdown, releasing radiation into the air.
00:36:23It took hours and dozens falling ill before an evacuation was called.
00:36:28The environmental impact was immense, with several trees dying and several animal species
00:36:33losing the ability to reproduce.
00:36:35The cleanup is expected to last until 2065, meaning until then, the effects could become
00:36:41even worse.
00:36:42Radiation is still leaking.
00:36:44Attempts to contain the contamination began back in 1997, when the Chernobyl Shelter Fund
00:36:50was established.
00:36:51The idea?
00:36:52Shield the entire reactor under a concrete dome.
00:36:55Which disaster, perpetrated by humans, do you think will have the biggest long-term
00:37:00impact?
00:37:01Alright, we're going to end things today with the ultimate list of moments that shaped
00:37:06our world in ways that we still feel today.
00:37:09What do you think tops that list?
00:37:11Something that we've already seen?
00:37:13Perhaps something different?
00:37:14Let's find out.
00:37:16May 8th, 1945 is declared Victory in Europe Day.
00:37:22Spontaneous celebrations erupt throughout the world.
00:37:25Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for shocking events in modern
00:37:30history that made just about everyone stop and take notice.
00:37:39Number 30, the Israel-Hamas War.
00:37:41The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for three quarters of a century, with
00:37:46the 2023 Israel-Hamas War adding another tragic and bloody chapter.
00:37:50There are so many families across Israel asking, where was the army?
00:37:54Why didn't they stop this?
00:37:56What do you tell those families?
00:37:57I tell them it's the responsibility of the army.
00:38:01It's the responsibility of the army for the intelligence.
00:38:05It's our responsibility to guard the people of Israel.
00:38:08We failed on Saturday.
00:38:10This is our responsibility, but now we're fighting.
00:38:13This latest conflict began when the Palestinian political and militant group Hamas launched
00:38:18a surprise attack on the 7th of October, 2023, killing around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.
00:38:25They also took 250 Israelis hostage, demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners.
00:38:31This is a massive terrorist attack that is gunning down Israeli civilians in their towns,
00:38:37in their homes, and as we've seen so graphically, literally dragging people across the border
00:38:42with Gaza.
00:38:43In retaliation, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza over six days and launched a ground
00:38:49invasion.
00:38:50Over 17,000 Palestinians have been killed, 7,000 of them children.
00:38:54There have been widespread global protests, and Gaza has collapsed into a humanitarian
00:38:59crisis.
00:39:00Number 29, the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
00:39:04In China, references to this event, also known as the June 4th incident, are heavily
00:39:09censored.
00:39:10In the spring of 1989, student-led demonstrations were held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, calling
00:39:16for democracy and greater civil liberties.
00:39:18They turned Tiananmen Square, the country's symbol of sovereignty, into a hub of dissent
00:39:23and protest.
00:39:24They want a crackdown on corruption.
00:39:26They want freedom of press.
00:39:28They call for an awakening to reform and progress in China.
00:39:31The protests spread to hundreds of cities, with workers joining them, angry over inflation,
00:39:36corruption, and the erosion of welfare.
00:39:39Declaring martial law, the government sent soldiers and tanks into the square.
00:39:43The death toll is disputed, ranging from hundreds to thousands.
00:39:47Estimates run from several hundred to over 10,000.
00:39:51Some argue that by shooting at civilians, the Communist Party lost its legitimacy to
00:39:55rule, and with it, an opportunity for political modernization.
00:39:59Famously, at least outside of China, the photo of an unknown man facing off against a column
00:40:04of tanks has become an enduring symbol of the event.
00:40:07Today, public displays of mourning for the victims are banned, although commemorations
00:40:12still sometimes reportedly occur in secret.
00:40:18Also known as the BP oil spill, this unfortunately wasn't the first industrial disaster to
00:40:24devastate our marine habitats, but it remains the largest on record.
00:40:28It began on April 20th, due to an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.
00:40:49The fallout from this disaster resulted in 205 million gallons of oil discharged into
00:40:54the Gulf of Mexico.
00:40:55The aftermath and effects were still being felt years after the initial disaster.
00:41:07In fact, reports from 2012 stated that the oil refineries from Deepwater Horizon were
00:41:12still leaking, despite an official statement from 2010 that claimed the well was sealed.
00:41:21This domestic terrorist attack shocked the nation.
00:41:24On April 19th, 1995, anti-government white supremacists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols
00:41:30detonated a truck full of explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
00:41:34Oklahoma City.
00:41:35In a blink, the sky dark with a plume of deep black smoke.
00:41:40There was a tremendous explosion, a massive explosion, at the federal building in the
00:41:45center of the city, the A.P. Murrah Building.
00:41:47We have a large column of smoke to the south of this address, do you want to check on that?
00:41:52The explosion killed 168 people and injured 680 others.
00:41:58The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was left in ruins, and the force of the blast
00:42:02damaged cars and buildings over a dozen blocks away.
00:42:05McVeigh and Nichols had sought to spark a revolution.
00:42:08McVeigh became disaffected, latching onto a growing pro-gun, anti-government ideology
00:42:14that gained traction in the 1990s in the aftermath of federal law enforcement actions at Ruby
00:42:20Ridge, Idaho.
00:42:22To this day, it is the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in United States history.
00:42:30In 1953, British and American intelligence agencies orchestrated a coup against democratically
00:42:36elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who had nationalized Iran's oil industry.
00:42:41With U.S. support, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became Iran's true ruler.
00:42:46The Shah's power is maintained by a vicious secret police and the fifth largest military
00:42:51on earth, equipped with American weapons.
00:42:54Fast forward to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and the Shah, seen as a western puppet,
00:42:59was overthrown, replaced with the theocratic government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
00:43:04In the middle of this revolution, militarized college students took 52 Americans hostage
00:43:10in the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
00:43:11For over a year, President Jimmy Carter sought to negotiate their return, but only after
00:43:17444 days were they released, after a pledge from the U.S. not to intervene in Iranian affairs.
00:43:23It was a long and harrowing ordeal for the hostages, their families, and indeed the entire nation.
00:43:29And it was an ordeal that plagued the presidency of Jimmy Carter, an ordeal whose final resolution
00:43:34eluded his presidency by less than an hour.
00:43:37Number 25, the November 2015 Paris attacks.
00:43:42In January 2015, France was left reeling from an Islamic terrorist attack on satirical magazine
00:43:48Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 staff were killed.
00:43:51The attack on Charlie Hebdo last week was Al-Qaeda's most high-profile operation in
00:43:56years, and today they bragged about it.
00:44:00In a video, Al-Qaeda in Yemen claimed it targeted the magazine for insulting the prophet
00:44:05Muhammad.
00:44:06Several other smaller attacks occurred throughout the year.
00:44:09On November 13th, these culminated in by far the deadliest.
00:44:13That night, in a series of coordinated attacks, terrorists detonated explosive vests and opened
00:44:18fire in streets and public venues in Paris.
00:44:21Only minutes later, gunmen opened fire on several bars and restaurants in eastern Paris.
00:44:26Three gunmen stormed a concert at the Bataclan theater, killing 90 people.
00:44:31In all, 130 lives were taken.
00:44:34The attacks sent shockwaves not only through France, but also reverberated around the world.
00:44:40Number 24, John Lennon is assassinated.
00:44:43It's safe to say that John Lennon is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of
00:44:47all time.
00:44:48Even after leaving the Beatles in 1969, he enjoyed enormous popularity and success.
00:44:54He also became well-known for his activism.
00:45:04However, on December 8th, 1980, obsessive fan Mark David Chapman fatally shot him outside
00:45:09the Dakota apartments in New York City.
00:45:12When news broke on ABC's Monday Night Football, fans were shocked and horrified.
00:45:16For many, the world seemed to stop turning.
00:45:24Around the globe, fans were united in mourning for a man whose music meant so much to so
00:45:40many.
00:45:41Number 23, Hurricane Katrina.
00:45:44This Category 5 hurricane was devastating not only due to its intensity, but also a
00:45:49failure of flood control systems and slow government response.
00:45:52On August 29th, 2005, the hurricane made landfall in Louisiana.
00:45:57It was quickly predicted to become a catastrophic event.
00:46:00My fear is absolutely that the models are correct.
00:46:04It is gaining strength again.
00:46:06It is now stalking the Gulf Coast.
00:46:08It rapidly doubled in size and intensified into a Category 5 hurricane.
00:46:14The storm surge breached New Orleans' levees and flooded the city.
00:46:18Tens of thousands of residents had not evacuated.
00:46:21It didn't matter if you were from there.
00:46:23TV and radio audiences could feel the distress and panic in the air.
00:46:27Critics argued that race and class were factors in the slow local and federal response.
00:46:32This story ends up being the road map, instruction booklet, the how-to story of dealing with
00:46:38disaster.
00:46:40It also tells you what not to do.
00:46:42The hurricane left an estimated 1,392 dead in its wake, making it one of the deadliest
00:46:48in U.S. history.
00:46:5122.
00:46:52The Fall of Saigon
00:46:53Seeing photos of the fall of Saigon, you might be reminded of the more recent 2021 Kabul
00:46:58airlift in Afghanistan.
00:47:00Both involved scenes of panic and powerful images of last-minute evacuation.
00:47:04The hardest part was the waiting.
00:47:07Many people said it was unnerving to be waiting for a ride to safety and to be hearing fighting
00:47:12all around you.
00:47:14On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam,
00:47:20marking the end of the deadly and divisive Vietnam War.
00:47:23The iconic photo of a helicopter evacuation from the roof of the U.S. embassy symbolized
00:47:28the desperate and dramatic nature of the fall.
00:47:30Yes, we've chosen to leave, but we've chosen to leave because it's no longer defendable
00:47:36with the resources that we have chosen to commit.
00:47:42And the limits that we have put on our involvement in South Vietnam.
00:47:46In the aftermath, Vietnam was reunified under communist rule, and the U.S. began to significantly
00:47:52rethink its foreign policies.
00:47:5421.
00:47:55The Jonestown Massacre
00:47:57Founded in Indiana in 1954, Jim Jones' People's Temple preached a message nominally based
00:48:03on Christianity, socialism, and civil rights.
00:48:06His driving force was less the Bible than social justice.
00:48:10He was very much ahead of the current climate in terms of race relations and his desire
00:48:16to create an integrated society.
00:48:19But something very dark lurked under the surface.
00:48:22In the 1970s, Jones fled accusations of abuse and fake miracles to a remote settlement in
00:48:28Guyana.
00:48:29Over time, the charismatic leader became paranoid and obsessed with domination over his faithful.
00:48:34Further reports of abuse led to a fact-finding mission from U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan.
00:48:38He never returned.
00:48:40Murdered by Jones' Red Brigade.
00:48:42Jones ordered his over 900 followers, a third of the minors, to take their own lives by
00:48:47drinking flavor aid laced with cyanide.
00:48:50This time, Jones served a punch spiked with cyanide.
00:48:53More than 900 died.
00:48:55The tragedy left the public in shock and horror, and is the origin of the expression drinking
00:49:00the Kool-Aid.
00:49:0120.
00:49:02Nelson Mandela Released
00:49:04In 1964, South African revolutionary leader Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment.
00:49:10For years, he had fought against apartheid, the system of racial segregation that privileged
00:49:16the country's white population and disenfranchised people of color, even from prison.
00:49:21He remained committed to this cause, communicating with political leaders and gaining worldwide
00:49:27attention.
00:49:28The fact that you could sit alone and think gave us a wonderful opportunity to change
00:49:39ourselves, your behavior.
00:49:41As civil unrest grew, Mandela was finally released from prison in 1990, 27 years after
00:49:48he was sentenced.
00:49:50His release was broadcast around the world.
00:49:52In a historic speech, he affirmed his commitment
00:50:04to peace, but also to the ongoing struggle against the violence of apartheid.
00:50:09Just four years later, he would go on to become the country's first black president.
00:50:1419.
00:50:15The 2021 United States Capitol Attack
00:50:19On January 6, 2021, scenes of carnage in the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., shocked Americans
00:50:27watching the riot unfold on TV.
00:50:29At a rally before the attack, outgoing President Donald Trump told supporters the election
00:50:37had been stolen and urged them to march to the Capitol building.
00:50:41Debunked by courts, state audits, and federal agencies, this claim was part of a campaign
00:50:46to overturn the election results and reinstall Trump as president.
00:50:58Within hours, 2,000 angry Trump supporters broke into the Capitol building, assaulting
00:51:03police and searching for lawmakers gathered to formalize Joe Biden's victory.
00:51:08Among them were members of far-right militias and neo-fascist groups, some of them armed.
00:51:14The insurrection failed, with lawmakers racing to safety before the mob reached them.
00:51:2018.
00:51:21The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
00:51:23There were a lot of eyes on Cape Canaveral, Florida, when Challenger finally launched
00:51:28on January 28, 1986.
00:51:31Due to technical issues and bad weather, the flight had been delayed multiple times.
00:51:41On launch day, CNN broadcast live nationwide coverage.
00:51:46NASA had organized for children to watch from schools to promote their Teacher in Space
00:51:51project, which had added teacher-turned-astronaut Krista McAuliffe to the crew.
00:51:56But viewers' hopes turned to horror as the shuttle disintegrated during its ascent, claiming
00:52:01the lives of all seven crew members.
00:52:08The Challenger's final flight had lasted only 73 seconds.
00:52:1317.
00:52:14The 1972 Summer Olympics
00:52:17The 1972 Olympic Games in West Germany were the first to be held in the region since Nazi
00:52:23dictator Adolf Hitler used the event as a platform for propaganda in 1936.
00:52:28Sadly, the September Games would become even more infamous, etching out their own bleak
00:52:33mark in history.
00:52:35After infiltrating the Olympic Village, eight armed men from the Palestinian terrorist group
00:52:40Black September killed two Israeli Olympic team members and took nine more hostage.
00:52:52After two grueling days of negotiation, the hostage crisis was brought to a violent end.
00:52:58The rescue attempt was botched, claiming the lives of all hostages and a police officer.
00:53:0616.
00:53:07The O.J. Simpson Murder Trial Verdict
00:53:09It was the trial of the century, and the verdict left the public reeling.
00:53:22After Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were stabbed to death in June
00:53:261994, Brown's ex-husband, former footballer and actor O.J. Simpson, became the prime suspect.
00:53:33Before her death, Brown had said that Simpson had abused and threatened to kill her.
00:53:37Every aspect of the case was highly publicized, from the car chase that saw him arrested to
00:53:43the lengthy trial.
00:53:44The coverage hooked viewers, and everyone had an opinion.
00:53:48On October 3, 1995, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
00:53:56For some, it was a vindication.
00:54:01To others, a travesty of justice, in which a celebrity had gotten away with murder.
00:54:0815.
00:54:08The Death of Osama Bin Laden
00:54:10In the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001,
00:54:14U.S. President George W. Bush announced the beginning of a war on terror.
00:54:18The first stage of this war was the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to hunt down Osama
00:54:23Bin Laden and his terrorist group, Al Qaeda.
00:54:34This manhunt continued for almost a decade as Bin Laden evaded capture.
00:54:38However, in 2011, the CIA tracked him down to a compound in Pakistan.
00:54:44In a helicopter raid codenamed Operation Neptune Spear on May 2, Bin Laden was killed.
00:54:54For those who vividly recalled the events of 9-11,
00:54:58President Obama's announcement that the Al Qaeda leader was dead was a landmark event.
00:55:0614.
00:55:08Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
00:55:10For months, the buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine's border had the world on edge.
00:55:16Would Russian President Vladimir Putin really give the order to invade?
00:55:20In 2014, Ukrainians had revolted against a pro-Moscow government,
00:55:25sick of corruption and abuse of power.
00:55:28Their success led Russia to annex Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
00:55:32In February 2022, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
00:55:37furious at the country's aspiration to join NATO.
00:55:40I consider it necessary to immediately recognize the independence
00:55:44and sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.
00:55:48In response, the international community hit Russia with severe economic sanctions.
00:55:54Around the world, everyone's eyes have been glued to their screens,
00:55:58watching the outgunned Ukrainians hold off the invading forces.
00:56:08Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech may be remembered for just four words,
00:56:13but they are arguably among the most powerful ever spoken.
00:56:19But my four little children will one day live in a nation
00:56:26where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
00:56:29but by the content of their character.
00:56:32The Baptist minister had chosen his profession because he felt sermons were
00:56:36quote, a respectful force for ideas, even social protest.
00:56:40King oversaw the Montgomery bus boycott and became the leader of civil rights organization SCLC.
00:56:47In August 1963, he helped organize a march of 250,000 people to Washington, D.C.
00:56:54to peacefully protest for equal rights for African Americans.
00:56:58With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation
00:57:04into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
00:57:06On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,
00:57:08he told listeners that he dreamt of a world free of racism and oppression.
00:57:13His impassioned words were heard far and wide,
00:57:16becoming a defining moment in the civil rights movement.
00:57:19They remain iconic today.
00:57:34Although she was no longer her royal highness in 1997,
00:57:38having lost her title after her divorce from Prince Charles,
00:57:41Diana remained a popular figure for the Commonwealth and beyond.
00:57:45We interrupt this film to tell you we are getting reports that Diana, Princess of Wales,
00:57:50has been badly injured in a car crash in France.
00:57:53Her sudden death in a car accident as she fled paparazzi
00:57:57occurred in the early hours of August 31st, while the British public were still asleep.
00:58:02Diana's driver, who had been intoxicated at the time,
00:58:06and Egyptian producer Dodi Fayed, also died in the crash.
00:58:09When people in the UK woke and learned the news,
00:58:12the country was left shocked and in mourning.
00:58:15The death of the people's princess was felt around the world.
00:58:32After World War II, the Allies split Germany into East and West.
00:58:37The Soviet Union controlled the East,
00:58:39while the US, UK, and France controlled the West.
00:58:42Eventually, East and West became separate republics,
00:58:45but the flight of East Germans to the more affluent West
00:58:48prompted the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961.
00:58:52Dividing friends and families,
00:58:54the wall became a symbol of the Iron Curtain
00:58:56separating Western Europe and the Soviet Bloc.
00:58:59In the 80s, however, massive protests and waves of refugees leaving East Germany
00:59:04led the government to relax rules for immigration.
00:59:07On the evening of November 9th, 1989, East Germans gathered at the wall.
00:59:12Elsewhere, they were swarming over the wall,
00:59:15hacking at it with hammers, picks, and chisels, clawing at it with bare hands.
00:59:20Rather than open fire, border guards stood down,
00:59:24JFK holds a unique place in political history.
00:59:28The World War II veteran was the President of the United States
00:59:31during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the commencement of the Space Race.
00:59:39He was also the first American to be elected President of the United States.
00:59:43He was also the first American to be elected President of the United States.
00:59:47He was also the first American to be elected President of the United States.
00:59:51Free men must fully share.
00:59:52He was also the first Catholic President
00:59:55and was elected off the back of the first televised presidential debates.
00:59:59Yet despite all of this, his time in office lasted less than three years
01:00:04before he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963.
01:00:10Although the moment itself was caught on camera, the footage was not broadcast live.
01:00:16However, the breaking news was delivered to the American people as events transpired.
01:00:29The country went into mourning, and millions watched his funeral on television.
01:00:34Now that he is relieved of the almost superhuman burden we imposed on him,
01:00:43may he rest in peace.
01:00:48At first, the details of this disaster were shrouded in secrecy.
01:00:56But words soon got out.
01:00:59During a safety test on April 26th, 1986,
01:01:02the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near Pripyat in Soviet Ukraine went into meltdown,
01:01:08the fault of design flaws and negligent operators.
01:01:15The subsequent explosion threw radioactive particles into the atmosphere.
01:01:19It was Sweden who alerted the world two days later,
01:01:22when radiation hundreds of miles away set off alarms.
01:01:26The first word that something was seriously wrong came from this power plant in eastern Sweden,
01:01:30where workers coming on the job registered abnormally high levels of radiation on their bodies.
01:01:37Although the levels were not high enough to harm humans,
01:01:40and no accident had occurred at that plant, it was shut down.
01:01:43And as tests were conducted, similar puzzling reports of high radiation
01:01:47came in from all over Scandinavia.
01:01:49But still, no accidents were reported, leading to the conclusion that the problem was elsewhere,
01:01:54to the east, in the Soviet Union, a fact confirmed to the Soviet people on television tonight.
01:02:00As the truth was gradually revealed, the scale of the disaster became evident.
01:02:05The meltdown led directly to the deaths of 31 people,
01:02:09and to many more from radiation-induced cancer in the years afterwards.
01:02:17It might be known as the Second World War, but for the first few years,
01:02:22the U.S. waited out the conflict raging across Europe.
01:02:25That all changed on December 7th, 1941,
01:02:29when Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
01:02:34Several ships were sunk, and 188 aircraft destroyed.
01:02:38Over 2,000 sailors were killed.
01:02:41It was a devastating blow to the United States Pacific Fleet.
01:02:44The following day, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
01:02:47delivered his famous Day of Infamy speech, and Congress declared war on Japan.
01:02:53December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.
01:03:05The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked
01:03:11by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
01:03:16The Allies' call for the U.S. to join the war had been answered.
01:03:20The first major disaster caught on camera.
01:03:26This airship accident transfixed and horrified audiences in the late 1930s.
01:03:30On May 6th, 1937, the German airship LZ-129 Hindenburg
01:03:36was docking in New Jersey when it caught fire, resulting in 36 fatalities.
01:03:50Watching the airship crash to the ground,
01:04:10radio journalist Herb Morrison summed it up best with his iconic exclamation.
01:04:20I can't even talk to people.
01:04:27I can't talk, ladies and gentlemen.
01:04:29Honestly, it's just laying there a massive smoking wreckage,
01:04:32and everybody can't hardly breathe and talk and screaming.
01:04:36Lady, I'm sorry.
01:04:39Honestly, I can hardly breathe.
01:04:41I'm going to step inside where I cannot see it.
01:04:45Charlie, that's terrible.
01:04:47Despite the carnage, there were survivors,
01:04:50but they couldn't help establish the cause of the fire, which continues to be debated.
01:04:55Whatever the truth, the effect was the end of zeppelins as a popular form of air travel.
01:05:03After six bloody years of battle, the Second World War was finally over in Europe.
01:05:12This was the moment we'd all been waiting for.
01:05:15Enormous crowds had gathered outside the house and all over the center of London
01:05:19to hear the end of the war in Europe officially announced by the prime minister.
01:05:24Berlin had fallen to the Soviet Union's Red Army,
01:05:26and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had taken his own life.
01:05:30His successor, Admiral Karl Dönitz, authorized Germany's surrender.
01:05:35On May 8, 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced victory over fascism,
01:05:41leading to parties on the street in celebration.
01:05:45Long live the cause of freedom. God save the king.
01:05:54After the premier had repeated his announcement to the House of Commons,
01:05:57the speaker led a procession of members headed by Mr. Churchill and Mr. Greenwood
01:06:01across to St. Margaret's for a victory thanksgiving service.
01:06:05Though the effects of the war were still being felt,
01:06:08the jubilation on that day is historic,
01:06:11and several countries still commemorate the date as a public holiday.
01:06:155. The Cuban Missile Crisis
01:06:40Just 17 years after the Second World War ended,
01:06:44Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union almost triggered another one,
01:06:49this time nuclear.
01:06:59In response to the U.S. deploying nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey,
01:07:02the Soviet Union did the same in Cuba in 1962.
01:07:06Cuba was keen for Soviet help.
01:07:09After the U.S. had backed a failed invasion the previous year.
01:07:19Despite being advised to launch an airstrike and invasion,
01:07:22President John F. Kennedy opted for a more diplomatic approach,
01:07:25a naval quarantine preventing delivery of more missiles.
01:07:39After tense talks,
01:07:58Kennedy and Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev
01:08:01agreed to scale back their nuclear missiles.
01:08:04But for just over one month,
01:08:06the world stood on the brink of nuclear catastrophe.
01:08:13It really was one giant leap for mankind.
01:08:16Back in the 1960s,
01:08:18the idea of sending people to the moon still seemed like science fiction.
01:08:34But spurred on by the space race between the U.S. and Soviet Union,
01:09:00NASA's Apollo Lunar Module Eagle touched down on the moon's surface on July 20, 1969.
01:09:18Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon,
01:09:22and Buzz Aldrin the second.
01:09:24An estimated 650 million Earthlings tuned in to witness the event on TV.
01:09:30Despite all our divisions,
01:09:31in that moment,
01:09:32the world watched together in awe as we achieved something we never thought possible.
01:09:53While World War II ended in Europe on May 8, 1945,
01:09:57the Allies continued to fight against Japan.
01:10:00On August 6, after the Japanese refused to surrender,
01:10:03the United States dropped an atomic bomb,
01:10:06known as Fat Man, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
01:10:12Three days later,
01:10:13they dropped a second, known as Little Boy, on Nagasaki.
01:10:17The bombs vaporized many in the blast radius,
01:10:20and inflicted radiation burns and sickness on others,
01:10:23killing an estimated 129,000 to 226,000 people,
01:10:29mostly civilians.
01:10:31Japan surrendered on August 15.
01:10:33Initially, the horrors of the attacks were little reported.
01:10:37But slowly,
01:10:38images and footage began to reveal the hellish consequences of atomic warfare.
01:10:532. 9-11
01:11:03Just about everyone who's old enough to remember it can tell you where they were
01:11:07when they heard about the September 11 attacks in 2001.
01:11:23For New York,
01:11:32it was morning when two hijacked passenger jets crashed into,
01:11:36and ultimately demolished, the Twin Towers as part of a coordinated attack.
01:11:53Another plane hit the Pentagon.
01:11:55After news of a fourth crash came to light that day,
01:11:58it became apparent that the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93
01:12:02took back their flight,
01:12:03and downed the weaponized aircraft before it reached Washington, D.C.
01:12:24The event claimed close to 3,000 lives,
01:12:28and the world was forever changed.
01:12:401. The COVID-19 Pandemic
01:12:43On March 12, 2020,
01:12:45the World Health Organization announced that the COVID-19 outbreak had become a pandemic.
01:12:53COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.
01:12:59Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly.
01:13:06It's a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear
01:13:13or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over,
01:13:18leading to unnecessary suffering.
01:13:22Few of us fully understood what it would mean for our lives in the years to come.
01:13:27Nonetheless, the news had people worldwide glued to their screens,
01:13:32or running to stock up on groceries, especially toilet paper.
01:13:51Through lockdowns, the world watched as the virus continued to dominate headlines,
01:14:16and the death toll skyrocketed from the hundreds into the thousands and then millions.
01:14:21The WHO's announcement was the beginning of a long, rocky road for all of us.
01:14:26Boosters are important, but the most important thing we need to do
01:14:30is get more people vaccinated.
01:14:33The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing.
01:14:36Over 77% of adults have gotten at least one shot.
01:14:41About 23% haven't gotten any shots.
01:14:44And that distinct minority is causing an awful lot of damage for the rest of the country.