Just before midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam collapsed, sending billions of gallons of water toward sleeping people downstream. Watch FLOOD IN THE DESERT Tue May 3 at 9/8c on American Experience | PBS → pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/flood-desert | American Experience | PBS

Yesterday marked the 90th anniversary of the 1928 St. Francis Dam Disaster, the second greatest disaster in California history. 400 lives, and possibly more were lost. At tonight's Santa Clarita Council Meeting, the following special video was presented. #SantaClaritaValley #SantaClarita #StFrancisDam #StFrancisDamDisaster | City of Santa Clarita Government

90 years ago today the St. Francis Dam collapsed - the second-deadliest disaster in California history. | Newsweek

Close to midnight in 1928, the St. Francis dam near Los Angeles suddenly collapsed —the largest man-made disaster in California history. Fifty years later, screenwriter Robert Towne would use its details and characters as the foundation for “Chinatown”, making Jack Nicholson and his cigarette one of Hollywoods biggest stars. Two decades after that, Dan Akroyd ushered me and few others into a secret back room at his L.A. House of Blues where I shared a different sort of cigarette with Jack Nichol