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19481776 Club

SP&S railway berm collapses; ten-foot wall of water erases Vanport in an afternoon

This morning, Portland's Housing Authority told 18,500 residents the dikes were safe. Tonight, Oregon's second-largest city is under the Columbia.

At 4:17 p.m. on Memorial Day, May 30, 1948, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway berm gave way, sending a ten-foot wall of water into Vanport, Oregon — a city of 18,500 people built on reclaimed Columbia River lowlands. That morning, the Housing Authority of Portland had issued a statement reassuring residents the dikes were safe. By nightfall, Oregon's second-largest city was underwater…

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More from May 30
1854

Pierce signs the Kansas-Nebraska Act; the Missouri Compromise's thirty-four-year line is gone

Douglas's "popular sovereignty" doctrine now lets settlers in both territories vote on slavery themselves, erasing the 36°30' ban that has held since 1820.
1868

Logan names May 30 a national day to decorate soldiers' graves; the order goes to every post in the Union

General Order No. 11 puts the commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic behind a practice Southern women began two years ago.
1958

Eisenhower buries two unknowns at Arlington; each man receives the Medal of Honor

Charette, the Navy's only active enlisted Medal of Honor holder, chose the World War II unknown; Lyle picked the Korean War soldier from four disinterred candidates.
18061776 Club
Near Adairville, Dickinson's shot broke two ribs and stopped inches from Jackson's heart; bleeding inside a loose coat, Jackson drew the hammer a second time and fired.
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More from Cold War America
1964

Senate breaks the longest filibuster in its history; civil rights vote is cleared

Robert Byrd's 14-hour, 13-minute speech closes 72 days of Southern obstruction, and cloture passes 71 to 29.
1966

Warren's court rules 5–4: police must tell suspects they may stay silent before questioning begins

Ernesto Miranda's kidnapping conviction falls; he had signed a "voluntary" confession without ever being told he could refuse to speak or call a lawyer.
1967

Thurgood Marshall takes the oath; the Supreme Court has its first Black justice

The Senate confirmed Marshall 69–11 on August 30, brushing aside sustained Southern objections; he is sworn in today, October 2.
1971

The Times begins printing the Pentagon Papers; four presidents, the documents show, misled the country on Vietnam

A 7,000-page classified Defense Department study reveals the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations each obscured the true scope of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.
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