July 17, 1981

The Hyatt Regency walkway collapses, claiming more than 100 lives in Kansas City. The 45-story hotel opened to much fanfare in 1980 as the state’s tallest building at the time. Tragedy struck the following year during a party as 1,300 people packed the atrium. As the festivities were taking place, the fourth-floor walkway collapsed onto the second-floor walkway. Based upon content from the book Missouri 365: This Day in Missouri History by John W. Brown, broadcaster and Missouri historian. Get your copy at Reedy Press. Image by Judy Baxter from Flickr licensed under CC by 2.0