September 29, 1957: A nuclear weapons and nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Chelyabinsk Russia leaks, exposing 22 villages to radiation. It is rated as the worst nuclear disaster on record, and remains so until the Chernobyl Disaster, 29 years later.
Since the Soviet Union wanted to keep the site secret, it was not marked on any maps. So they named it the Kyshtym Disaster, after the nearest town. The city of Chelyabinsk has been renamed Ozyorsk.
At least 22 villages were exposed to radiation, with a total population of around 10,000 people evacuated. Some were evacuated after a week, but it took almost two years for evacuations to occur at other sites.[5]
The disaster spread hot particles over more than 20,000 square miles, where at least 270,000 people lived. At least 200 people are known to have died from radiation sickness from this event.
Vague reports of a "catastrophic accident" causing "radioactive fallout over the Soviet and many neighboring states" began appearing in the Western press between 13 and 14 April 1958, and the first details emerged in the Austrian newspaper Die Presse on March 17, 1959. Only 1976 did Soviet dissident Zhores Medvedev make the nature and extent of the disaster known to the world, in the magazine New Scientist.
*
September 29, 1957 was a Sunday. On this day, Mark L. Attanasio is born in The Bronx, and grows up just across the Hudson River, in Tenafly, Bergen County, New Jersey. Since 2005, he has been the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. This was also the day of the Kyshtym Disaster, a nuclear plant explosion and leak in Russia. I have a separate entry for that event.
These baseball games were played:
* The New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-1.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game under that name, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Five days earlier, they had beaten the Pirates, 2-0 in the last game at their home park, Ebbets Field. For the 1958 season, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, and the Giants moved to San Francisco.
* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams went 2-for-2 with an RBI, before being replaced for defensive purposes by Jimmy Piersall. Jerry Coleman hit a home run. Mickey Mantle did not play.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 7-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Senators' bullpen collapsed in the top of the 10th inning, with the winning run scoring on an RBI double by Brooks Robinson.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Athletics, 7-4 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Al Kaline went 2-for-5.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Cincinnati Redlegs, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. (The Reds called themselves the Redlegs from 1953 to 1959, because of the Red Scare.) Hank Aaron went 0-for-3. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4.
* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-3 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Ernie Banks went 5-for-5 with an RBI. Stan Musial did not play.
These NFL games were played:
* The New York Giants lost to the Cleveland Browns, 6-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. In his NFL debut, Cleveland's Jim Brown ran for 86 yards, and caught a pass for 6 yards.
* The Green Bay Packers open the new City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin, replacing the original, too-small City Stadium. They beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 21-17. In 1965, following the death of team founder Earl "Curly" Lambeau, the new City Stadium was renamed Lambeau Field.
* The Baltimore Colts beat the Detroit Lions, 34-14 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Washington Redskins, 28-7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 17-13 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* And the Chicago Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-10 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
I have a separate entry that encompasses the baseball Giants' farewell to New York, and the Jim Brown and Lambeau Field debuts.
No comments:
Post a Comment