In 1820, the American whaling ship Essex was attacked by a sperm whale, an event that inspired Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick." 

In 1904, a fire broke out in Baltimore, lasting over 30 hours and destroying more than 1,500 buildings. It led to the standardization of firefighting equipment across U.S. cities.

In 1956, the U.S. dropped a hydrogen bomb over the Bikini Atoll in a test called Operation Redwing. The bomb was accidentally twice as powerful as planned due to a design error.

In 1919, a molasses storage tank burst in Boston, releasing a wave of molasses that killed 21 people and injured 150. The "Great Molasses Flood" caused significant damage and led to stricter building regulations.

In 1932, the Australian military waged war against emus in Western Australia. Known as the "Emu War," it ended with the emus largely unscathed and the military efforts deemed unsuccessful.