January 21, 1951

1951Eric Holder, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 82nd United States Attorney General^[†]

Eric Himpton Holder Jr. is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Holder was the first African American to hold the position. As of 2025, Holder is the last registered Democrat to serve as U.S. attorney general.

1951The catastrophic eruption of Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea claims 2,942 lives.^[†]

In early January 1951, a series of minor explosions and earthquakes rocked Mount Lamington, a volcano in the Australian-administered Territory of Papua and New Guinea. Prior to the eruption, Mount Lamington was not recognized as a volcano due to the absence of historically recorded eruptions and dense vegetation cover. From January 15, volcanic activity intensified, and tall eruption plumes were generated. The largest eruption occurred on the morning of January 21 when a thick black plume of ash rose 15,000 metres (50,000 ft) into the atmosphere. The eruption collapsed a lava dome and produced a lethal pyroclastic flow that killed 2,942 people. In the years after the eruption, new lava domes formed and collapsed in succession. Activity persisted until July 1956. The eruption is the deadliest natural disaster in Australian history, as the region was under the rule of the Government of Australia.