Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States and
one of the most highly regarded American generals of World War
II, died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 78.

At 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, one of the worst accidents in the
history of the U.S. nuclear power industry began when a
pressure valve in the Unit-2 reactor at Three Mile Island failed
to close. Cooling water, contaminated with radiation, drained
from the open valve into adjoining buildings, and the core
began to dangerously overheat.        

  President Carter touring TMI-2 control room, April 1 1979.