January 31, 1953: The North Sea Flood

January 31, 1953: A heavy storm surge causes extensive flooding in the North Sea, overwhelming sea defenses in England, Scotland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

A combination of a high Spring tide and a severe European windstorm caused the sea to flood land up to 18 feet above mean sea level. A death toll of 2,551 people was attributed to the flood, along with the destruction of over 10,000 buildings, the deaths of 187,000 animals, and the flooding of 9 percent of all Dutch farmland.

Realizing that such infrequent events could reoccur, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom carried out large studies on strengthening of coastal defenses. The Netherlands developed the Delta Works, an extensive system of dams and storm surge barriers. The U.K. constructed storm surge barriers on the Thames Estuary, and on the Hull where it meets the Humber Estuary.

The countries involved have been spared such a flood since. Still, bitter experience shows that it is better to have these protections and not need them than to need them and not have them.

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January 31, 1953 was a Saturday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 76-69 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Indianapolis Olympians, 97-90 at the Baltimore Coliseum.

* The Rochester Royals beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 103-83 at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester, New York.

* And the Minneapolis Lakers beat the Fort Wayne Pistons, 87-80 at the Minneapolis Auditorium.

The NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens played to a tie, 0-0 at the Montreal Forum. They would face each other in the Stanley Cup Finals, with the Canadiens winning.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

And in the 4th Round of English soccer's FA Cup, Arsenal defeated Manchester-area team Bury FC, 6-2 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London. Arsenal won the Football League title that season, and, in the FA Cup, advanced to the Quarterfinal, where they were defeated by eventual winners Blackpool of Lancashire.