Date in year · 1966 · The 1960s

January 17, 1966

On January 17, 1966, palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea. The year's #1 song was "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & the Papas. Mando, Véronique Gens, Paul Reiffel would arrive in the same year.

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1966

1960s

Around 1966

The year in brief

1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1966th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 966th year of the 2nd millennium, the 66th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1960s decade.

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What happened

On January 17, 1966

  1. 1966 Palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea.

    Collision between a USAF B-52G and KC-135 over the Mediterranean Sea near Spain

    The Palomares accident occurred on 17 January 1966, when a United States Air Force B-52G bomber collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refueling at 31,000 feet (9,450 m) over the Mediterranean Sea, near the Spanish village of Palomares in Almería province. The collision destroyed the tanker, killing all four crew members, and caused the bomber to break apart, resulting in the deaths of three of its seven crew members. The B-52G was participating in Operation Chrome Dome, a Cold War airborne alert mission involving continuous flights of nuclear-armed bombers.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1966

The class of 1966

Others born in 1966

Mando 1966– Greek singer
Véronique Gens 1966– French soprano and actress
Paul Reiffel 1966– Australian cricketer and umpire
David Chalmers 1966– Australian philosopher and academic
David Filo 1966– American businessman, co-founded Yahoo!
Mickey Morandini 1966– American baseball player and manager

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