A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.
The National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973, also known as the 1973 National Archives fire, was a fire that occurred at the Military Personnel Records Center in the St. Louis suburb of Overland, Missouri, from July 12–16, 1973.
The fire destroyed some 16 million to 18 million official military personnel records. The NPRC, the custodian of U.S. military service records, is part of the National Personnel Records Center, an agency of the National Archives and Records Administration of the General Services Administration.