April 30

[edit] Events

1900: At Vaughan, Mississippi, Illinois Central passenger train No. 1, the Cannonball, crashes into the rear of freight train No. 83 which is fouling the main line out of a siding at 3:52 a.m. on the Water Valley District of the Mississippi Division. Engineer of 2-6-0 Mogul No. 382, John Luther "Casey" Jones, the only fatality, is found to be solely at fault by the ensuing investigation for having disregarded safety warnings behind the stalled train. The accident spawns the vastly popular "Ballad of Casey Jones" by roundhouse worker and friend of the deceased, Wallace Saunders, and the root theme for a Grateful Dead song titled "Casey Jones".
1924: The worst tornado in Anderson history leaves eight dead, hundreds homeless, and countless injured.