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On This Day | March 17

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2020
Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Bridge opened

Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Bridge, also known as Temburong Bridge, is a dual-carriageway bridge in Brunei that spans across Brunei Bay, connecting the Bruneian mainland with its semi-exclave of Temburong. It is the longest bridge in Southeast Asia, at 30 kilometres (19 mi) long.

2005
Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago) construction started

The Trump International Hotel and Tower is a skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The building, named for Donald Trump, was designed by architect Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Bovis Lend Lease built the 100-story structure, which reaches a height of 1,388 feet (423.2 m) including its spire, its roof topping out at 1,171 feet (357 m).

1979
Penmanshiel Tunnel collapsed

Penmanshiel Tunnel is a now-disused railway tunnel near Grantshouse, Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland. It was formerly part of the East Coast Main Line between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dunbar. During its 134-year existence, the tunnel was the location of two incidents investigated by HM Railway Inspectorate. The first one was a fire in 1949 and the second occurred on 17 March 1979 when, during improvement works, a length of the tunnel suddenly collapsed. Thirteen workers managed to escape, but two were killed. Later it was determined that it would be too dangerous and difficult to rebuild the tunnel, so it was sealed up and a new alignment was made for the railway, in a cutting to the west of the hill.

1963
Mount Agung erupted

Mount Agung is an active volcano in Bali, Indonesia, southeast of Mount Batur volcano, also in Bali. The eruption of 1963 was one of the largest and most devastating eruptions in Indonesia's history. On February 18, 1963, local residents heard loud explosions and saw clouds rising from the crater of Mount Agung. On February 24, lava began flowing down the northern slope of the mountain, eventually traveling 7 km in the next 20 days. On March 17, the volcano erupted, sending debris 8 to 10 km into the air and generating massive pyroclastic flows. These flows devastated numerous villages, killing an estimated 1,100-1,500 people. Cold lahars caused by heavy rainfall after the eruption killed an additional 200.

1933
William Unwin died

William Cawthorne Unwin was a British civil and mechanical engineer. He is noted for his extensive work on hydraulics and engines as well as his close association with William Fairbairn. He is one of only a few men who have served as president of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Unwin served as an engineering advisor to the government during the First World War and was the first recipient of the Kelvin Gold Medal awarded by the Institution of Civil Engineers.

1930
Empire State Building construction started

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931 and has a total height of 443.2m.

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