The Mysteries of History (April 1 Edition)

Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami; Cigarette Ads Banned

1946 — Alaskan Earthquake Kills People in Hawaii (and Unimak)

public domain image from wikimedia commons

On this date in 1946, an earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska which generated a tsunami that killed 159 people 2,400 miles away in Hawaii.

The quake occurred two-and-a-half-miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska. In addition to Hawaii, five Coast Guard personnel died on the Aleutian Island of Unimak when a 100-foot-wave smashed a lighthouse to pieces.

Among those who perished in Hawaii were 25 students and their teacher in a schoolhouse in Laupahoehoe that was swamped by the Tsunami.

Questions: How far from the quake can dangerous waves travel? If you live in a Tsunami-prone area, where will you go if there is a Tsunami warning? What was the worst ever Tsunami (based on human casualties)? Have you seen the movie The Impossible?

---

1970 — Cigarette Ads Banned

public domain images from wikimedia commons

It had long been common knowledge that tobacco use is harmful to health (firsthand and secondhand). Minors had already been protected since the 1950s by means of laws forbidding the sale of such addictive and carcinogenic substances to them.

On this date in 1970, advertising tobacco products on the radio and television was no longer allowed in the U.S. Tobacco companies had been the biggest advertiser up until then.

Questions: Have you ever smoked? If so, do you wish you never had? What are some disadvantages of smoking? Have you heard Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson song Reasons to Quit? Have you heard the Merle Travis song (recorded by Tex Williams and Commander Cody and His Lost Plant Airmen, among others) Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)?

---

Read about “The Secret Lives of Kids” here.

---