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79: Eruption of Mount Vesuvius.Mount Vesuvius erupted on this day, destroying the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. (At the time, the cities had not quite recovered from an earthquake 17 years earlier.) Just after midday, fragments of ash, pumice, and other volcanic debris began pouring down on Pompeii, quickly covering the city to a depth of more than 3 metres (9 feet) and causing the roofs of many houses to fall in. Surges of pyroclastic material and heated gas, known as nuées ardentes, reached the city walls on the morning of August 25 and soon asphyxiated those residents who had not been killed by falling debris. Additional pyroclastic flows and rains of ash followed, adding at least another 3 metres of debris and preserving in a pall of ash the bodies of the inhabitants who perished while taking shelter in their houses or while trying to escape toward the coast or by the roads leading to Stabiae or Nuceria.More events on this day1949:The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) entered into force, following the signing of its treaty four months earlier. |
1821:The Treaty of Córdoba was signed, giving Mexico its independence from Spain. |
1803:Irish revolutionary James Napper Tandy died in France. |
1572:The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, plotted by Catherine de Médicis against the French Huguenots, was carried out by Roman Catholic nobles and other citizens; thousands died in the bloodshed. |
410:Alaric, chief of the Visigoths, led an army into Rome, an event that symbolizes the fall of the Western Roman Empire. |
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