In 1992, NBC staged a fiery test crash of a General Motors pickup truck for its “Dateline NBC” news program¹. 

The show’s producers allowed incendiary devices to be strapped to trucks for the crash-test demonstration, but General Motors discovered the setup and sued NBC for defamation². 

The segment was titled “Waiting To Explode” and aimed to prove that under certain conditions Chevy pickup gas tanks would blow up spontaneously³

Source: onthisday.com motorbiscuit.com

1558 – Elizabeth I ascended the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary Tudor.

1603 – Sir Walter Raleigh went on trial for treason.

1796 – Catherine the Great of Russia died at the age of 67.

1798 – Irish nationalist leader Wolfe Tone committed suicide while in jail awaiting execution.

1800 – The U.S. Congress held its first session in Washington, DC, in the partially completed Capitol building.

1869 – The Suez Canal opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas.

1880 – The first three British female graduates received their Bachelor of Arts degrees from London University.

1903 – Russia’s Social Democrats officially split into two groups – Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

1904 – The first underwater submarine journey was taken, from Southampton, England, to the Isle of Wight.

1913 – The steamship Louise became the first ship to travel through the Panama Canal.

1913 – In Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm banned the armed forces from dancing the tango.

1922 – Siberia voted for union with the U.S.S.R.

1962 – Washington’s Dulles International Airport was dedicated by U.S. President Kennedy.

1968 – NBC cut away from the final minutes of a New York Jets-Oakland Raiders game to begin a TV special, “Heidi,” on schedule. The Raiders came from behind to beat the Jets 43-32.

1970 – The Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1. The vehicle was released by Luna 17.

1973 – U.S. President Nixon told an Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, FL, “people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”

1979 – Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the U.S.Embassy in Tehran.

1982 – The Empire State Building was added to the National Register of Historical Places.

1988 – Benazir Bhutto became the first woman leader of an Islamic country. She was elected in the first democratic elections in Pakistan in 11 years.

1990 – A mass grave was discovered by the bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand. The bodies were believed to be those of World War II prisoners of war.

1990 – The Soviet government agreed to change the country’s constitution.

1997 – 62 people were killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt. The attackers were killed by police.

1997 – Mario Lemieux was voted into the NHL Hall of Fame.

2001 – “Toys “R” Us Times Square – The Center of the Toy Universe” opened in New York City.

2006 – Sony’s PlayStation 3 went on sale in the United States.

2010 – Reasearchers trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms. It was the first time humans had trapped antimatter.