May 18, 1980
Mount St. Helens erupts and explodes.
The eruption on this date of Mount St. Helens, an active stratovolcano in the state of Washington, was the deadliest and most costly volcanic eruption in the history of the United States. Fifty seven people were killed in the eruption and ash spread through the atmosphere across much of the Northwestern US. The volcano is still active today, with a constant, but gradual extrusion of lava.
For more information...
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
The National Forest Service's site dedicated to Mount St. Helens. There is an enormous amount of information about the mountain and about volcanoes here, including a nice photo gallery of "before and after" pictures.
Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes
From National Geographic, this site profiles volcanoes in general (in the "lab" section), but has a link to Mount St. Helens and its eruption (under case studies, volcano #4). There is video of the explosion and a photo gallery.
Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam
See live pictures of Mount St. Helens. Of course, time differences and weather conditions may make the photographs difficult to view. There is a link to video and photo archives of the volcano.
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