Vesuvius Erupts: The Grand Eruption of 1906
On the night of April 7, 1906, Mount Vesuvius reached the peak of its most violent modern eruption, burying villages in lava and ash and darkening the skies over Naples.
Tales from the year 1906
San Francisco, 5:12 A.M.: The Quake and the Fire
At 5:12 on the morning of April 18, 1906, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake shattered San Francisco — and the fires that followed nearly finished the job.
The Patent That Owned the Sky: The Wrights' Flying Machine
On May 22, 1906, the Wright brothers were granted U.S. Patent 821,393 for their flying machine — the three-axis control system that made powered flight truly controllable.
Three Dots, Three Dashes: The Day the World Agreed on SOS
On October 3, 1906, delegates from 27 nations met in Berlin and gave sinking ships a single universal cry for help: SOS — three dots, three dashes, three dots.
The Night Radio Learned to Sing
On Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Fessenden transmitted what is remembered as the first radio broadcast of music and voice from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.