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Events on May 4 in history

PEPCON disaster
1988May, 4

The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.

On May 4, 1988, a fire followed by several explosions occurred at the Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada (PEPCON) chemical plant in Henderson, Nevada. The disaster caused two fatalities, 372 injuries, and an estimated $100 million of damage. A large portion of the Las Vegas Valley within a 10-mile (16 km) radius of the plant was affected, and several agencies activated disaster plans.

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Events on 1988

  • 14Apr

    Soviet Union

    In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
  • 29May

    Ronald Reagan

    The U.S. President Ronald Reagan begins his first visit to the Soviet Union when he arrives in Moscow for a superpower summit with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
  • 15Nov

    State of Palestine

    Israeli-Palestinian conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council.
  • 16Nov

    Benazir Bhutto

    In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.
  • 19Nov

    Slobodan Milošević

    Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević publicly declares that Serbia is under attack from Albanian separatists in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia.