Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef just off the coast of Alaska, dumping more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine environment.

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On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on an undersea reef, spilling an estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Twenty years later, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which was involved in the initial cleanup, reports on the area's recovery.

Woods Hole scientist Chris Reddy explains how an oil spill can have a lasting effect on the marine ecosystem.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion ripped through BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana, causing the worst oil spill in U.S. history. On June 15, President Barack Obama informs the nation about the current state of the disaster as experts struggle to stop the spewing oil. It would be another month before the leak was finally capped.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, located off the coast of Louisiana and under lease to British Petroleum (BP), resulted in the worst oil spill in U.S. history. In a May 3, 2010, interview, BP CEO Tony Hayward places blame for the accident on the owner of the drilling platform, although he promises that BP will clean up the mess.

Russell Mitchell recaps the major historical events that occurred on March 24th in this video clip from This Day in History. The Exxon Valdez spilled eleven million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound in Alaska as well as Elvis joining the army. The British enacted the Quartering Act which forced American colonists to put up British soldiers in their homes. Also, on March 24, Halle Berry became the first African American woman to win the Oscar for Best Actress.

On November 4, 1979, a group of student revolutionaries in Iran seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding more than 60 Americans hostage. On November 11, President Jimmy Carter imposed an oil embargo against Iran, which he explains in an address to the nation.