On this date in 1928, the St. Francis dam in San Francisquito Canyon (40 miles northwest of LA) catastrophically failed.
At 11:57:30 p.m., 12.4 billion gallons of water destroyed the dam, causing a devastating force of water and massive chunks of concrete to rush forth at incredible speed and volume.
600 people died, with the water passing through several cities, crossing over the i-5, and finally reaching the ocean 54 miles away.
Bodies were found late into the 20th century, stuck in-between boulders and washed out to sea as far as the Mexico border.
I recently visited some of the St. Francis dam ruins.