On this day: March 20

Man Survives Fall Into Active Volcano Crater in 2015

On March 20, 2015, a man survived a fall into the active crater of a volcano. He was rescued with serious injuries; reports and details vary about how long he was inside the crater and which rescuers reached him first.

The First Documented Fatalities from Counterfeit Medicines, March 20, 1947

On March 20, 1947, a cluster of deaths in the United States was linked to contaminated sulfanilamide preparations, marking one of the earliest well-documented incidents in which adulterated or incorrectly formulated medicines caused multiple fatalities and spurred regulatory action.

The Pentagon Is Officially Dedicated

On March 20, 1943, the Pentagon — the massive five-sided headquarters for the U.S. War Department — was formally dedicated in Washington, D.C., marking the completion of a wartime construction project designed to centralize military planning and administration.