On this day in conspiracies

The last entries are made in the station log and on the weather slate, with notes recorded that morning. That night, the passing steamer Archtor, bound for Leith, notes that the Flannan light is not shining, but its report is not acted on for days.

Executives of the leading tobacco companies meet at the Plaza Hotel in New York with the public-relations firm Hill & Knowlton to plan a unified response. The strategy that emerges is not to concede the science but to contest it: to fund research, question the findings, and reassure smokers.

Walt Disney dies at St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank, across the street from his studio, of circulatory collapse following surgery for lung cancer. He was 65. His illness and the extent of it had been kept largely private.

The Silver Bridge, carrying U.S. Route 35 across the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, collapses during evening rush hour, killing 46 people. Reported Mothman sightings effectively end that night, and the two events become permanently linked in local memory.

A Delhi court acquits 36 foreign nationals from 14 countries, finding no proof they were even inside the Markaz during the relevant period and that they had been “maliciously” prosecuted. Over the following months, courts across several states discharge or acquit attendees for lack of evidence.