Disasters

Natural and man-made catastrophes — earthquakes, fires, floods, and accidents — that tested American resilience and shaped public policy.

1900 Galveston Hurricane

The deadliest natural disaster in American history

1906 San Francisco Earthquake

The quake and fire that destroyed a great American city

Boston Marathon Bombing

The 2013 terror attack and the manhunt that gripped a city

Columbine High School Shooting

The 1999 attack that reshaped how America sees school violence

COVID-19 Pandemic

The 2020–2023 public health crisis that killed over a million Americans and transformed national life

Great Mississippi Flood of 1927

The worst river flood in American history — and the disaster that built the modern federal government

Hurricane Katrina

The 2005 storm and flood that devastated New Orleans and exposed a broken federal safety net

Oklahoma City Bombing

The Deadliest Act of Domestic Terrorism in American History, April 19, 1995

September 11 Attacks

The deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, 2001

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

The 1986 explosion that killed seven astronauts and shook America's faith in its space program

The AIDS Epidemic

A public-health catastrophe that reshaped medicine and activism

The Dust Bowl

The ecological catastrophe that stripped the Great Plains bare, 1930–1940

Three Mile Island

The 1979 nuclear accident that ended the American nuclear power era

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

The 1911 factory disaster that transformed American labor law