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That's Englishwithdain.com slash transcripts. In today's episode, we take a look back in history to see what happened on a day like today, but years ago. Today is Thursday, the 11th of March, which is of course a date we will never forget here in Spain, but we'll talk about all of that in a second. Let's start the show. You are listening to episode 99 of English with Dane. Hit it. Recent history, in fact. Let's check in with history.com to find out what happened on a day like today.
I'll post the link to the site in the description in case you want to read more about these events. This first one hits very close to home, literally. The headline reads: Terrorists bomb trains in Madrid. On March 11, 2004, 193 people are killed and nearly 2,000 are injured when 10 bombs explode on four trains in three Madrid area train stations during a busy morning rush hour. The bombs were later found to have been detonated by mobile phones.
The attacks, the deadliest against civilians on European soil since 1988 Lockerbie airplane bombing, were initially suspected to be the work of the Basque separatist militant group ETA. This was soon proved incorrect as evidence mounted against an extreme Islamist militant group loosely tied to but thought to be working in the name of Al-Qaeda. Investigators believe that all of the blasts were caused by improvised explosive devices that were packed in backpacks and brought aboard the trains.
The terrorists seem to have targeted Madrid's Atocha station at or near which seven of the bombs were detonated. The other bombs were detonated aboard trains near the El Bozo del Tío Raimundo and Santa Eugenia stations, most likely because of delays in the trains' journeys on their way to Atocha. Three other bombs did not detonate as planned and were later found intact. This was crazy. I remember this moment clearly. I was 15 at the time and on my way to school with my mom and my brother.
I had a coffee with my mom and dad yesterday, actually, and we talked about this moment. I'm sure everyone in Madrid or in Spain or everywhere over a certain age remembers where they were when they found out. It's like 9-11. I'm sure you remember where you were, don't establish, when you heard the news about the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. It was that same feeling. Crazy. Really, really sad. It was a super strange day and week and month, really.
You can visit the monument built in memory of the victims and everyone affected by the attack right there at the Atocha train station. I walked by it the other day. Okay. I don't think there was any particularly hard vocabulary in that story, so let's move on to the next headline. A different type of disastrous event. The headline reads: Fukushima nuclear disaster.
On March 11, 2011, the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan causes massive devastation, and the ensuing or following tsunami decimates the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu. On top of the already horrific destruction and loss of life, the natural disaster also gives rise to a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant. The Fukushima disaster is considered the second worst nuclear disaster in history, forcing the relocation of over 100,000 people.
During the emergency, each of the three operational nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant shut down successfully, but the backup power and cooling systems failed. As a result, residual heat caused fuel rods in all three reactors to partially melt down. As crews searched through the rubble, Los Escombros, the rubble, for survivors, and the nation reeled from the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, the nuclear disaster unfolded or happened, over the course of several days.
Reactors 1 and 3 exploded on March 12th and 14th, respectively, prompting the government to evacuate everyone within a 20-kilometer radius. Another explosion in the building housing or containing Reactor 2 on March 15th released even more radiation, and thousands of people left their homes as workers used helicopters, water cannons, and seawater pumps to try to cool the overheating facility.
The full extent of the fallout became apparent over the ensuing months, with the government eventually evacuating all residents within a 30 kilometer radius of the plant. No deaths were initially attributed to the incident, although this was of little comfort to the 154,000 who were evacuated or the loved ones, Los Seres Queridos, of the more than 18,000 people who lost their lives as a result of the earthquake and tsunami.
Some have suggested that such a large evacuation was not necessary as radiation levels appear to have dropped below what was expected in the immediate wake of the accident. Man, I'm really bumming you guys out now. I promise the next story isn't as intense as these first two. What a crazy sequence of events, though, that must be impossible to fully recover from. Let's do a quick vocabulary check. First, to give rise, to give rise means to cause to happen, occur, or exist.
The sentence you heard was, on top of the already horrific destruction and loss of life, the natural disaster also gives rise to a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Then we have to reel, to reel from something. Reel is spelled R-E-E-L, no A. This is something you don't hear that often outside of a news scenario. To reel from something means to feel very shocked, upset, or confused.
The sentence was, as crews searched through the rubble, Los Escombros, for survivors, and the nation reeled from the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, etc. Alright, one more, a more light-hearted story. Let's read this last headline. Paul McCartney knighted. On March 11, 1997, Paul McCartney, a former member of the most successful rock band in history, the Beatles, is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his quote, services to music.
The 54-year-old lad from Liverpool became Sir Paul in a centuries-old ceremony of pomp and solemnity at Buckingham Palace in central London. Fans waited outside in a scene reminiscent of Beatle Mania of the 1960s. Crowds screamed as McCartney swept through the gates in his chauffeur-driven limousine, and he answered with a thumbs up.
As for the then surviving Beatles, Ringostar and George Harrison, Sir Paul said that since they learned that he would be knighted, quote, they call me your holiness. McCartney dedicated his knighthood to fellow Beatles George Harrison, Ringostar, and John Lennon, and the people of the northwestern port of Liverpool.
In October 1965, McCartney, along with fellow band members John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringostar collected MBE members of the British Empire medals, much to the shock of the British establishment. John Lennon actually returned his MBE in 1969 as a war protest. I didn't know that. I hope you paid attention to those compound adjectives in that last one, in that last story. There were a few in there.
We had a centuries-old ceremony, his chauffeur-driven limousine, and the then surviving Beatles. If you heard the episode about compound adjectives, you know what I'm talking about. Remember to watch out for them. I'm always surprised by new ones. I don't think I've ever said then surviving or chauffeur-driven before. Okay, that's it for this episode of English with Dane. Thank you for listening. I hope it helped. I hoped you learned something.
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