Today in History: March 26, Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore

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Today is Wednesday, March 26, the 85th day of 2025. There are 280 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 26, 2024, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a container ship, killing six maintenance workers on the bridge. (Maryland officials have announced plans to replace the bridge by late 2028.)

Also on this date:

In 1812, an earthquake devastated Caracas, Venezuela, causing as many as 30,000 deaths. (The U.S. Congress later approved $50,000 in food aid to be sent to Venezuela — the first example of American disaster assistance abroad.)

In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first American ice hockey team to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 9-1 to win the championship series, three games to one.

In 1979, a peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and witnessed by President Jimmy Carter at the White House.

In 1992, a judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison on rape charges. (Tyson would ultimately serve less than three years of the sentence.)

In 1997, the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate religious cult who took their own lives were found inside a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

In 2013, Italy’s top criminal court overturned the acquittal of American Amanda Knox in the grisly murder of British roommate Meredith Kercher and ordered Knox to stand trial again. (Although convicted in absentia, Knox was exonerated by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.)

In 2018, a toxicology report obtained by The Associated Press revealed that the late pop superstar Prince had levels of fentanyl in his body that multiple experts described as “exceedingly high.”

In 2021, Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, saying the cable news giant falsely claimed that the voting company rigged the 2020 election. (Fox would eventually agree to pay Dominion $787.5 million in one of the largest defamation settlements in U.S. history.)

Today’s Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Famer Wayne Embry is 88. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 85. Author Erica Jong is 83. Journalist Bob Woodward is 82. Singer Diana Ross is 81. Rock singer Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) is 77. Actor-comedian Vicki Lawrence is 76. Actor-comedian Martin Short is 75. Country singer Ronnie McDowell is 75. Country singer Charly McClain is 69. TV personality Leeza Gibbons is 68. Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen is 65. Actor Jennifer Grey is 65. Basketball Hall of Famer John Stockton is 63. Actor Michael Imperioli is 59. Country singer Kenny Chesney is 57. Actor Leslie Mann is 53. Google co-founder Larry Page is 52. Rapper Juvenile is 50. Actor Keira Knightley is 40. Actor-comedian Ramy Youssef is 34.