Non-musical history for today: 1978 – In the deadliest construction accident in United States history, 51 construction workers were killed when a cooling tower under construction collapsed at the Pleasants Power Station in Willow Island, West Virginia. The usual method of scaffold construction has the base of the scaffold built on the ground, with the top raised to match the height of the tower. The scaffolding on the Willow Island cooling tower was bolted to the structure it was being used to build. A layer of concrete was poured; then, after the concrete forms were removed, the scaffolding was raised and bolted onto the new section. Well, on the morning of the collapse, concrete and scaffolding began to peel away from the top of the tower, first counter-clockwise, then in both directions. A jumble of concrete, wooden forms, metal scaffolding, and construction workers fell into the hollow center of the tower. On June 8, 1978, OSHA cited Willow Island contractors for 20 violations, including failures to field-test concrete and to properly anchor the scaffold system.

Music history, album anniversaries, birthdays, and deaths for April 27.

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