This Week in American History

Here is what happened this week in American History.

• June 18. On this day in 2007, it is about 7 pm when a fire begins in a pile of trash located near the loading dock of the Charleston Sofa Super Store in Charleston, South Carolina. Some of the employees were known to take smoking breaks in that area. The fire quickly spread. There was no sprinkler system in the building which was open for business. Once the alarm sounded, firefighters from Charleston were on the scene within three minutes followed quickly by additional help from St. Andrews Public Service District. The first effort by firefighters was to get people out of the building and then begin attacking the fire. While conducting the fire attack, it was discovered another person was trapped in the warehouse. That person was found and rescued but that time allowed the fire to continue spreading and involved furniture in the building. A flashover occurred about 40 minutes into the operation and five minutes later the roof began collapsing. Nine firefighters would be trapped inside the building and would die. Together, they had a combined firefighting experience in excess of 132 years. Lessons learned from that disaster are still being taught to fire departments and firefighters.

• June 19. In 1978, accomplished actress Zoe Saldana is born in Passaic, New Jersey, and raised in New York City and later in the Dominican Republic. While living in the Dominican Republic, Saldana begins to dance, specifically ballet. Back in Brooklyn, she performs with a theater group and a talent agency recruits her. Saldana’s career takes off with roles in such hits as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Avatar, Columbiana, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

• June 20. Today in 1956, Linea Aeropostal Venezolana Flight 253, a Lockheed L-1049E Super Constellation has taken off from New York-Idlewild International Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) bound for Caracas Airport (now Maiquetia Simon Bolivar International Airport) in Venezuela. Less than 90 minutes into the flight, the aircraft is over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Asbury Park, New Jersey. The flight crew reports problems with an engine, and the aircraft turns back to New York. About 20 minutes later the crew declares an emergency. A Coast Guard aircraft responds to the scene as does a nearby Eastern aircraft. As Flight 253 approaches Idlewild, the crew begins dumping fuel. The streaming fuel catches fire and erupts in a fireball. The aircraft plunges into the sea. It was carrying 74 crew and passengers, there were no survivors.

• June 21. On this day in 1979, extraordinarily successful actor and producer Chris Pratt is born in Virginia, Minnesota, the youngest of three children. While still a young child, his family moves to Lake Stevens, Washington. Pratt develops an interest in the arts, dancing and playing the guitar. He becomes a fervent reader of comic books and a multi-sport high school athlete. He is working as a waiter in Maui, Hawaii, when he is discovered by actress and director Rae Dawn Chong who gets him a role in Cursed: Part 3. From there his acting career takes off and Pratt becomes one of the industry’s most bankable stars and among the highest-paid actors.

• June 22. In 2009, Washington, DC Metro Train 214 is on its rush hour run from Silver Spring station to Grosvenor-Strathmore station. Behind Train 214 is Train 112 on a run from Silver Spring station to Shady Grove station. A sensor on a section of trackage had been reported as malfunctioning and not reliable as indicating if a train was on the section of trackage, or not. A work order had been generated, but had not been done. Train 214 stopped on that section of trackage and the sensor again failed, showing the track clear. Train 112 was cleared to proceed. When the Train 112 operator spotted Train 214 stopped on the track, it was too late to avoid a collision. Nine people would die in the crash with another 80 injured.

• June 23. Today in 1683, William Penn signs a friendship treaty with the Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania.

• June 24. On this day in 1951, various plans have been considered for further penetration into North Korea in an effort to bring the Korean War to an end. Included in some of the plans was the seizure and occupation of the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang. Such plans were being formulated because there was concern that China and North Korea were stalling and preparing for another major attack. Gen. Matthew Ridgway tasked Gen. James Van Fleet with developing a plan of attack. That never happened because tomorrow Ridgway sends a message to Chinese and North Korean leadership on opening negotiations for a ceasefire. The Chinese and North Korean leadership respond favorably with July 10 set for negotiations to begin at Kaesong, North Korea.