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Coal in the United States was discovered in the 18th century by landowners and farmers on the slopes of the hillsides in the Appalachian region. It was not until the late 19th century that this black rock would become a part of an industrial revolution. One of the first mines to commercially produce coal was in Fairmont, West Virginia, and began the Consolidated Coal Corporation. On November 20, 1968, the Farmington No. 9 mine explosion changed the course of safety for future mining and the lives of 78 families whose sons, husbands, fathers, and loved ones never came back from the cateye shift the next day.

Point Pleasant's Silver Bridge, the first eyebar suspension bridge in the United States, was an engineering marvel when it was constructed in 1927 and 1928. Located on US Highway 35, the bridge spanned the Ohio River and linked Point Pleasant, West Virginia, with the towns of Kanauga and Gallipolis, Ohio. For almost 40 years, the structure provided dependable service for travelers in the region. On December 15, 1967, this service came to a dramatic and disastrous end. At 4:58 p.m., during the height of rush hour, the bridge suddenly collapsed. Rescue and recovery operations started immediately but were hampered by poor weather conditions and freezing rain. The cause of the collapse was linked to the bridge's innovative design. Undetected corrosion stress cracks caused an eyebar on the Ohio side to fracture; because the eyebars were linked together in a chain, the failure of one led to the catastrophic collapse of the entire bridge. In total, 46 lives were lost in the disaster.