May 12, 1951: United States detonated world’s first Hydrogen Bomb on Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. In 1977, U.S. military began decontamination of Enewetak & other islands. During three-year cleanup process, 111,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil & debris was mixed with Portland cement & buried it in an atomic blast crater. Dome composed of 18 inch thick concrete panels was constructed over the buried material. Final cost of the cleanup project was $239 million. In 2000, Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal made a compensation award to people of Enewetak consisting of $107.8 million for environmental restoration; $244 million in damages to cover economic losses caused by loss of access and use of the atoll; and $34 million for hardship & suffering. Rather than scrape topsoil off the island, replace it with clean topsoil, and create another radioactive waste repository dome (estimated cost $947 million), most areas still contaminated on Enewetak were treated with potassium. Soil which could not be effectively treated for human use was removed and used as fill for a causeway connecting the two main islands of the atoll. Potassium decontamination project cost $103.3 million. May 12, 2008: Wenchuan earthquake (7.9-magnitude) struck Sichuan, China, where 69,195 people died. Over 15 million people were evacuated & 5+ million were left homeless. Damage was estimated at $86 billion. May 12, 2006: World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) was initiated. It is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting need for protection of migratory birds & their habitats. On the second weekend each May, people around the world take action and organize public events such as bird festivals, education programs & birdwatching excursions to celebrate WMBD. May 12, 2006: Dozens of people are killed by an oil pipeline explosion in Nigeria. May 12, 1987: Firefighters finally contained forest fire that swept across China, where 193 people died. Over 2 1/2 million acres burned & 50,000 people lost their homes. May 12, 1971: Earthquake (6.3-magnitude) struck Turkey, where 100 people died. May 12, 1938: Sandoz Labs in Switzerland began manufacturing psychedelic drug, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). In 1950s, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) thought the drug might be applicable to mind control & chemical warfare. Subsequent recreational use of LSD by youth culture in the Western world led to a political firestorm that resulted in its prohibition. May 12, 1910, Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin, English chemist & Nobel Prize Laureate, was born. She developed a crystallography technique that uses X-rays to determine three dimensional structures of biomolecules. Crowfoot-Hodgkin first identified the structure of penicillin & vitamin. Note: One of her students was Margaret Thatcher, the only British prime minister with a degree in science. May 12, 1906, William Ewing, American scientist, was born. His geology, geophysical & oceanographic research helped to confirm theory of plate tectonics. Ewing developed long-period seismograph & theoretical models for interpreting surface seismic waves propagating outward from earthquakes. This helps scientists to better understand cause of earthquakes & to minimize their hazards. May 12, 1820: Florence Nightingale, English nurse & statistician was born. Her contributions to public health included developing methods of applying & displaying statistics to demonstrate need for improved nursing procedures. During Crimean War, she witnessed appalling conditions endured by the sick: overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of basic supplies & malnutrition. Utilizing modern nursing practices, she improved comfort of her patients, increased efficiency & reduced the death toll.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 15:19:49 +0000