The Andrea Gail Crew Was Lost in the Perfect Storm 35 Years Ago Today
The 1991 nor'easter that took six lives from a Gloucester fishing boat began forming off Nova Scotia on this date in 1991.
By Sofia Wisniewski ·
Thirty-five years ago this week, a massive storm system began to take shape in the North Atlantic. The weather event, later dubbed The Perfect Storm, formed hundreds of miles east of Nova Scotia on October 28, 1991. It would eventually claim the lives of six fishermen from Massachusetts.
The victims were the entire crew of the Andrea Gail, a fishing vessel based in Gloucester. The boat was operating in the North Atlantic when the conditions deteriorated. The storm's intensity and the convergence of other weather systems created a deadly environment for the small crew.
This date has also marked other major historical turning points. In 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he was dismantling missile bases in Cuba. In return, the U.S. secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from installations in Turkey. This exchange ended the Cuban missile crisis between the two superpowers.
In 1858, Rowland Hussey Macy opened his first New York store at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan. That location served as the starting point for what would become a major retail empire. In 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act over a veto from President Woodrow Wilson. The law provided the means to enforce the Prohibition-era ban on alcohol.
More recently, the date saw shifts in business and politics. In 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company was rebranding as Meta. The move was intended to encompass the firm's virtual-reality vision while keeping the Facebook name for the social network. In 2022, Paul Pelosi, husband to then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was severely beaten by an intruder in their San Francisco home. Nancy Pelosi announced she would step down as speaker in the next Congress less than three weeks later.
In 2024, the Pentagon disclosed that North Korea had sent about 10,000 troops to Russia. The troops were sent to train and likely fight against Ukraine. The move added pressure to Ukraine's overstretched army and increased geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.
Notable people born on this date include actor Julia Roberts, who is 59, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who is 71. Actor Dennis Franz is 82, and tennis player Taylor Fritz is 28.
Source: The Macomb Daily
