Today in History March 28th

First Europeans settle in San Francisco

With 247 colonists in tow, Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza founds a fort, or ‘presidio,’ on a wide bay in northern California. The modest outpost will grow into one of the biggest cities in North America.

Three Mile Island plant suffers a partial meltdown

Fears of radioactive contamination run rampant after a coolant leak causes a reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island to overheat. The power plant, just 10 miles from the state capital, is stabilized before complete meltdown. The accident will swell anti-nuclear sentiment in the public.

1941 Land cleared for Ford’s Willow Run plant

On this day in 1941, workers start clearing trees from hundreds of acres of land near Ypsilanti, Michigan, some 30 miles west of Detroit, in preparation for the construction of the Ford Motor Company’s Willow Run plant, which will use Henry Ford’s mass-production technology to build B-24 bomber planes for World War II. During the war, Detroit was dubbed the “Arsenal of Democracy,” as American automakers reconfigured their factories to produce a variety of military vehicles and ammunition for the Allies.

I hope you enjoyed the history stories today. I’m cut short by computer problem. M