2014 Event German company Linde begins constructing a facility to convert wind power to hydrogen; the plant will help Germany in its efforts to increase reliance on renewable energy sources 2014 Event The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, now the world's largest solar energy plant, opens in the Mojave Desert; the $2.2 billion plant, owned by Google, NRG Energy, and BrightSource energy, spans five square miles and can provide power to 140,000 homes 2013 Event Iran experiences a 5.6-magnitude earthquake 35 miles from the Bushehr nuclear plant, raising concerns over the risk of radioactive leaks in the event of a major earthquake; seven people die and 30 are injured 2013 Event Reports citing leaks of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant lead South Korea to ban all fishery imports from eight of Japan's prefectures 2013 Event Sediments found in the reservoir of a major treatment plant in Montreal, Canada, lead authorities to issue a warning to boil the water before drinking it 2013 Event An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, causes 15 deaths and major damage to nearby buildings, residences, a nursing home and middle school 2013 Event In Bolivar, Venezuela, the country's government opens a granite processing plant, estimating it will provide 25% of the nation's granite requirements 2013 Event In efforts to turn its back on nuclear power, Japan announces plans to build the world's largest offshore wind farm in the Fukushima Prefecture, near the site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant 2012 Event In an apparent effort to keep his contract, a subcontractor at Japan's defunct Fukushima's nuclear power plant shielded dosimeters with lead plates to ensure they did not reach radiation limits, and workers to lie about possible high radiation exposure 2012 Event Airbus announces it's plan to invest $600 million to open an assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama 2012 Event Scientists regenerated specimens from Silene stenophylla, a 31,800 year old piece of fruit, substantially surpassing previous records for the oldest plant regenerated 2011 Event Canadian Auto Workers vote in favor of striking against Caterpillar Inc's locomotive manufacturing plant in London, Ontario 2011 Event Protestors demonstrating against the construction of a power plant in Haimen, southern China, are fired upon with teargas and arrested 2011 Event Tests show radioactive cesium is present in small quantities in residents of Iitate and Kawamata, Fukushima, towns located 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 2011 Event Secret documents on Egypt's nuclear power plant are released by WikiLeaks 2011 Event The Tokyo Electric Power Company claims three Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant reactors partially melted down during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami 2011 Event Each household within the exclusion zone of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant will receive 1 million yen from the Tokyo Electric Power Company 2011 Event Following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, Japan raises the crisis level to 7, equal to the disaster in Chernobyl 2011 Event The International Atomic Energy Agency calls for a summit to discuss concerns about nuclear safety following radiation leaks at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant 2011 Event The Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant reports radiation levels 1600 times normal levels are present 20km from the plant 2011 Event Analysts report a nuclear meltdown may be occurring at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant; a state of emergency is declared at five plants 2011 Event Japan's Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant suffers a radiation leak after the earthquake; thousands of nearby residents are evacuated 2009 Event A new species of a giant carnivorous plant, Nepethes attenboroughii, is discovered in the central Phillipines highlands 2000 Event After years of preparation for Y2K, only minor computer-related problems were reported (a problem with Hotmail, with a nuclear power plant in Japan and with apartment heating in Korea) 1997 Event Russia signs agreement to build a $3B nuclear power plant in China 1996 Death Harold William Woolhouse, plant scientist, dies at 63 1990 Event BASF plant in Cincinnati explodes in flames, 1 person dies 1989 Event 2 French TV newsmen arrested for trying to plant fake bombs on 3 airlines at JFK airport in security test 1988 Event 3 giant turtles found in Bronx sewage plant 1986 Event Tass reports Chernobyl nuclear power plant mishap 1986 Event Chernobyl, U.S.S.R. site of world's worst nuclear power plant disaster 1985 Event 1,400 meatpackers walk off the job at a Geo A Hormel and Co plant 1984 Event Polygram's Hanover Germany plant produces its 10 millionth CD 1977 Event 36 die as grain elevator at Continental Grain Company plant explodes 1977 Death Karac Plant, son of Robert Plant, dies of respratory failure at 6 1975 Event Robert Plant is involved in a car crash in Rhodes 1974 Event Chemical plant explodes in Flixborough Lincs kills 29 in UK 1972 Event 1st electric power plant fueled by garbage begins operating 1968 Event John Lennon and Yoko Ono plant an acorn at Conventry Cathedral 1966 Event 1st major tidal power plant opens at Rance estuary, France 1962 Event AEC announces 1st atomic power plant in Antarctica in operation 1961 Event 1st practical sea water conversion plant - Freeport, Texas 1961 Birthday Lynne Austin, born in Plant City, Florida, playmate, Jul, 1986 1957 Event Shippingport Atomic Power Stn, 1st nuke plant to generate electricity 1957 Event 1st U.S. large scale nuclear power plant opens (Shippingport Penn) 1957 Birthday Pam Tillis, born in Plant City, Florida, singer, country music genre, daughter of Mel Tillis, album, 'Put Yourself in My Place' certified gold by the RIAA 1957 Event 1st military nuclear power plant dedicated, Fort Belvoir Va 1955 Event 1st pilot plant to produce man-made diamonds announced 1951 Event 1st self-contained titanium plant opens (Henderson Nevada) 1948 Birthday Robert Plant, English rock vocalist, Led Zeppelin-Whole Lotta Love 1948 Event I G Farben chemical plant explodes in Ludwigshafen, Germany, 182 die 1946 Event Ice plant collapses, shearing a tenement building and burying 38 1945 Event 35 Jews sacrifice their lives to blow up Nazi rubber plant in Silesia 1944 Event 1st mobile electric power plant delivered, Philadelphia 1942 Event Alpine hunters plant German flag on Elbroezgebergte, Kaukasus 1942 Event Elwood Ordnance Plant near Joliet Illinois kills 54 1941 Event Ground broken for Boeing Plant II (ex-AFLC Plant 13) Wichita, Kansas 1941 Event Ammunition plant at Fort Smederovo in Belgrade explodes; kills 1,500 1940 Event 49 die and 200 injured when Hercules Powder Company plant explodes, New Jersey 1937 Event Police kill 10 strikers at Republic Steel Plant in Chicago 1936 Event United Auto Workers stage 1st sit-down strike, at Fisher Body Plant 1936 Event 1st alcohol power plant forms, Atchison, Kansas 1932 Birthday Harold William Woolhouse, plant scientist 1916 Event German saboteurs blow up a munitions plant on Black Tom Island, New Jersey 1915 Birthday William Goyen, born in Trinity, Texas, writer, storyteller, married actress Doris Roberts, wrote The House of Breath, The Fair Sister, Wonderful Plant 1912 Event Plant Quarantine Act goes into effect 1896 Event Power plant at Niagara Falls begins operation 1886 Event 1st commercially successful AC electric power plant opens, Buffalo 1886 Event 1st AC power plant in U.S. begins commercial operation, Massachusetts 1886 Event 1st U.S. alternating current power plant starts, Great Barrington, MA 1881 Event California becomes 1st state to pass plant quarantine legislation 1861 Event Government Printing Office purchases 1st printing plant, Washington 1807 Death Michel Adanson, French biologist (Plant classes), dies at 79 1665 Birthday Rudolph J Camerarius, German botanist/physician, sexuality plant
