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On This Day | August 14

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2021
2021 Haiti earthquake

At 08:29:09 EDT on 14 August 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Tiburon Peninsula in the Caribbean nation of Haiti. It had a 10-kilometre-deep (6.2 mi) hypocenter near Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Tsunami warnings were briefly issued for the Haitian coast. At least 2,248 people were confirmed killed as of 1 September 2021 and more than 12,200 injured, mostly in the Sud Department. An estimated 650,000 people were in need of assistance. At least 137,500 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

2018
Ponte Morandi collapse

Ponte Morandi, officially Viadotto Polcevera, was a road viaduct in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, constructed between 1963 and 1967 along the A10 motorway over the Polcevera River, from which it derived its official name. It connected Genoa's Sampierdarena and Cornigliano districts across the Polcevera Valley. On 14 August 2018, a 210-metre (690 ft) section of the viaduct collapsed during a rainstorm, killing forty-three people. The collapse led to a year-long state of emergency in the Liguria region, extensive analysis of the structural failure, and widely varying assignment of responsibility. The remains of the original bridge were demolished in June 2019. The replacement bridge, the Genoa-Saint George Bridge was inaugurated a year later.

2018
Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Plant opened

The Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Plant is part of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power project in Azad Kashmir (AJK) designed to divert water from the Neelum River to a power station on the Jhelum River. The power station is located 42 km (26 mi) south of Muzaffarabad, and has an installed capacity of 969 MW. The last unit was synchronized with the national grid on 13 August and attained its maximum generation capacity of 969 MW on 14 August 2018. It will generate 5,150 GWh per year at the levelised tariff of Rs 13.50 per unit for 30 years. The plant had managed to reach 1040 MW production on a few occasions, which is beyond its capacity and a rare precedence in hydel power sector.

1909
William Stanley died

William Ford Robinson Stanley was a British inventor with 78 patents filed in both the United Kingdom and the United States of America. He was an engineer who designed and made precision drawing and mathematical instruments, as well as surveying instruments and telescopes, manufactured by his company "William Ford Stanley and Co. Ltd." Stanley was a skilled architect who designed and founded the UK's first Trades school, Stanley Technical Trades School (now Harris Academy South Norwood), as well as designing the Stanley Halls in South Norwood.

1880
Cologne Cathedral was completed

Cologne Cathedral is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day. At 157 m (515 ft), the cathedral is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the second tallest church in Europe after Ulm Minster, and the third tallest church of any kind in the world.The completion of Germany's largest cathedral was celebrated as a national event on 14 August 1880, 632 years after construction had begun. The celebration was attended by Emperor Wilhelm I. With a height of 157.38 m (516.3 ft), it was the tallest building in the world for four years until the completion of the Washington Monument.

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