On 6/29/1995 in the Seocho-gu District of Seoul, South Korea, a department store collapsed killing 501 and injuring 937 people. “The Sampoong Group began construction of the Sampoong Department Store in 1987 over a tract of land previously used as a landfill. Originally designed as an office building with four floors, it was changed to a large department store during its construction by Lee Joon, the future chairman of the building. This involved cutting away several support columns to install escalators. When the original contractors refused to carry out these changes, Lee ignored and fired them and hired his own building company for the construction.” “In April 1995, cracks began to appear in the ceiling of the south wing’s fifth floor. During this period, the only response by Lee and his management staff involved moving merchandise and stores from the top floor to the basement.”
On 6/29/1918 the three-story Ruff Building at Fourth and Douglas in Sioux City, Iowa collapsed and killed twenty people. “The Ruff building was being remodeled and the collapse is believed to have been due to the removal of old supports. Erected nearly fifty years ago, at the time of the collapse, it was one of the oldest buildings in the city.”
On 6/29/2003 a balcony collapse at 713 W. Wrightwood Avenue Chicago, Illinois about 12:30 a.m. killed two and injured fifty-seven. “Chicago police said as many as 40 or 50 people may have been on the porch at the time of the collapse, and that there may have been beer kegs and dancing on the porch as well.”
On 6/29/1872 a Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighter “died as a result of injuries sustained June 22nd, when a chemical explosion occurred after a fire had been brought under control.
On 6/29/1918 the Britton Block on Arsenal Street in Watertown, New York was heavily damaged by fire; three firefighters were injured.
On 6/29/1936 a Buffalo, New York firefighter “was killed shortly after 3:00 p.m. when he collapsed from smoke and struck his head on the cobblestone pavement near the Black Rock Market at 365 Amherst Street. The one-story brick building housed a rag shop and the fire had spread to two other houses next door. The firefighter came out of the building complaining of feeling dizzy when he collapsed, his death instantaneous when he struck his head.”
On 6/29/1947 a Detroit, Michigan firefighter “died after collapsing while operating at a fire.”
On 6/29/1965 a Fort Collins, Colorado firefighter “was killed by falling bricks and mortar at a bookstore fire. He was directing hose lines at College and Oak Streets when an exterior wall gave way.”
On 6/29/1966 a Santa Rosa, California firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained while battling a fire on 3rd Street, in downtown Santa Rosa.”
On 6/29/1613 the Globe Theater in London, where most of Shakespeare’s plays debuted, burned down after a theatrical cannon misfired that ignited the wooden beams and thatching during a performance of Henry VIII. The theater was built by Shakespeare’s acting company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, in 1599. “Like other theaters of its time, the Globe was a round wooden structure with a stage at one end and covered balconies for the gentry. The galleries could seat about 1,000 people, with room for another 2,000 “groundlings,” who could stand on the ground around the stage.”
On 6/29/2017 around 4:20 p.m., two people died, and four others were hospitalized after an industrial accident at the Tampa Electric Company (TECO) power plant in Apollo Beach, Hillsborough County, Florida.
On 6/29/1960 a flash fire that started in the stern or torpedo room aboard the 2,500-ton nuclear submarine Sargo at Pearl Harbor, HI killed two sailors. “Cause of the fire was attributed by Navy spokesman to a rupture in the liquid oxygen line near the after-torpedo room. The submarine was taking on a supply of liquid oxygen. The room was immediately sealed off and flooded.”
On 6/29/1873 a conflagration killed nine in Virginia City, Nevada.
On 6/29/1858 the Great London Harbor fire started.