In 1790, President George Washington signed the first U.S. copyright law.
In 1889, the failure of the South Fork Dam on Pennsylvania's Lake Conemaugh caused a huge flood that engulfed Johnstown, claiming 2,209 lives.
In 1970, an undersea earthquake off the coast of the Ancash region of Peru caused a massive avalanche that resulted in approximately 70,000 fatalities.
In 2005, an article in Vanity Fair…