◆ On this day

October 17

4 sourced moments from October 17 in history: The London Beer Flood drowned several people (1814); The world's first commercial nuclear power station opened (1956); OPEC Turned Oil Into a Weapon (1973), plus 1 more.

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4 things happened on October 17

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1989 Earth & Climate · Natural Disasters

The Loma Prieta earthquake struck during a World Series game

A magnitude 6.9 quake hit the San Francisco Bay Area minutes before a World Series game, knocking the broadcast off the air.

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1973 Society & Economy · Economics

OPEC Turned Oil Into a Weapon

In the middle of a war, Arab oil producers throttled the world's supply and quadrupled the price of crude almost overnight.

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1956 Technology · Energy

The world's first commercial nuclear power station opened

Queen Elizabeth II flipped the switch at Calder Hall in 1956, sending nuclear electricity to a national grid for the first time.

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1814 Food & Drink · Beverages

The London Beer Flood drowned several people

A burst brewery vat unleashed a wave of porter through a London slum in 1814, killing eight people.

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