June 28, 1994: U.S. EPA announced it would develop UV (ultraviolet) Index, “To enhance public awareness of effects of overexposure to sun’s ultraviolet rays, & to provide public with actions they can take to reduce harmful effects of overexposure, which may include skin cancer, cataracts & immune suppression.”

June 28, 2007: American bald eagle was removed from endangered species list.

June 28, 1992: Two earthquakes (7.3 & 6.3-magnitude) struck California desert area east of Los Angeles. Earthquakes triggered landslides that wiped out roads & opened 44-mile-long rupture in the earth.

June 28, 1974: Canyon landslide in Columbia (South America) where 200 people died.

June 28, 1960: Gas explosion at British coal mine where 45 people died.

June 28, 1927: F. Sherwood Rowland, American chemist, was born. He shared Nobel Prize for Chemistry for research on depletion of Earth’s ozone layer. Rowland discovered that man-made chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants accelerate decomposition of ozonosphere, which protects Earth from ultraviolet radiation from sun.

June 28, 1832: First American case of a cholera epidemic was reported in New York City. Previously, Europe & the Americas were unaffected by First Cholera Pandemic of 1817 when cholera, long endemic on Indian subcontinent, spread to Arabia, Syria & southern Russia. Cholera spreads via polluted water. Its victims die after hours of cramps, diarrhea & vomiting. Crowded into unsanitary slums, poor people suffered most. Many of New York City’s elite fled to the countryside.

June 28, 1820: Widespread belief that eating a tomato would kill you was put to rest by Colonel Robert Johnson. Holding a public demonstration on courthouse steps in Salem, NJ, he proceeded to consume numerous tomatoes & lived. Deadly aspect of tomatoes is based half in superstition, half in fact. Tomato leaves can be deadly. Before a tomato ripens, it contains bitter alkaloid known as Solanine. In concentrated doses, it is fatal to humans. Note: Today a typical American consumes 80 pounds per year of tomatoes.