Eruption of Vesuvius Destroys Pompeii

On August 24, 79 CE, Vesuvius explodes with the force of 100,000 Hiroshima bombs, burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under meters of ash and pumice. Pliny the Younger watches from across the Bay of Naples and writes the first detailed eyewitness account of a volcanic eruption — his uncle, Pliny the Elder, dies attempting a rescue mission. The buried cities preserve an astonishingly complete snapshot of first-century Roman life: houses, shops, graffiti, food, and the plaster casts of people in their final moments.