Yekaterinburg
April 2, 1979: Spores of Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of the disease anthrax, were accidentally released from a Soviet military research facility in the city of Sverdlovsk, in the Soviet Union -- now Yekaterinburg, Russia.
The ensuing outbreak of the disease resulted in the deaths of at least 68 people, although, given the Soviet penchant for secrecy, the exact number of victims remains unknown.
The cause of the outbreak was denied for years by the Soviet authorities, which blamed the deaths on consumption of tainted meat from the area, and subcutaneous exposure due to butchers handling the tainted meat. Interestingly, U.S. sources, normally all too willing to make Communist countries look bad, backed them up on it. They didn't want to create a panic over anthrax.
The accident was the first major indication in the Western world hat the Soviet Union had embarked upon an offensive program aimed at the development and large-scale production of biological weapons.
It wasn't the first environmental disaster the Soviets sustained, and then had to cover up. And it wouldn't be the last, or the worst: Seven years later, to the month, the Chernobyl disaster occurred.
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April 2, 1979 was a Wednesday.
Football was out of season. The Major League Baseball season began 2 days later. There were no games in the NBA or the World Hockey Association on this night. There was 1 in the NHL: The New York Rangers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4 at Madison Square Garden.
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