August 8, 1975: The Banqiao Dam Disaster

August 8, 1975: The Banqiao Dam breaks during Typhoon Nina. It is the worst dam disaster in history -- no pun intended.

The dam began operation in 1952, Banqiao, in Henan Province, China, about 563 miles southwest of the national capital of Beijing. Cracks began appearing immediately, due to engineering errors. The dam's designer, Chen Xing, was critical of the national government's dam-building procedures. Since the national government was run by Mao Zedong, this was very risky. Twice, he was exiled and eventually returned.

Typhoon Nina broke the Banqiao Dam, and 60 other dams. Estimates of the deaths range from 170,000 to 240,000. If it was 170,000 people that died, that's about 93 times as many as died in Hurricane Katrina, and 77 times as many as died in the Johnstown Flood. Another 11 million were left homeless. The reason we don't know for sure is the same reason we don't know how many died at Tienanmen Square in 1989: The Chinese government covered it up.

Mao died the next year. His eventual successor, Deng Xiaoping, listened to Chen, and restored him. It still took until 1986 to start reconstruction, and 1993 for the dam to restart operation. Chen lived until 2009.

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August 8, 1975 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Ed Herrmann hit a home run. Larry Gura outpitched Nolan Ryan, who didn't get out of the 3rd inning. But the Yankees' new manager, Billy Martin, had no confidence in Gura, and had him traded the next year, to the Kansas City Royals. He helped them reach the postseason in 4 of the next 5 years. Having gone 12-9 for the Yankees, he went 111-78.

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3 at Shea Stadium. The Mets led 3-2 after 7 innings, but the Dodgers scored 2 in the 8th. Steve Garvey and Jimmy Wynn hit home runs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Dick Allen singled Garry Maddox home in the bottom of the 9th. Greg Luzinski hit a home run, and Mike Schmidt went 2-for-4.

* A doubleheader was split at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Atlanta Braves wo the opener, 1-0. Carl Morton pitched a 5-hit shutout. The Chicago Cubs won the nightcap, 3-1.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Indians player-manager Frank Robinson did not put himself into the game. Oscar Gamble went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and 3 RBIs. George Brett went 1-for-4. Harmon Killebrew, running out the string with the Royals, pinch-hit, and did not reach base.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-7 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Johnny Bench went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Uncharacteristically, Rod Carew went 0-for-5. That dropped his batting down to a mere .370.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron, running out the string with the Brewers, went 1-for-4. Robin Yount did not play.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 10-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Reggie Jackson and Gene Tenace hit home runs. Carl Yastrzemski did not play. This turned out to be a preview of the American League Championship Series, but the Red Sox turned the tables and won.