Today in History - July 25: Scientists told patients they were being treated for a fatal disease - but it was a lie
The public became aware on July 24, 1972, of a 40-year scientific experiment in which unwitting subjects were told they were being treated for a fatal disease, when they weren't.
The Tuskegee syphilis study enrolled 399 poor Black farmers from rural Alabama, all of whom had the disease.
The men were promised medical care and a free funeral, and told they would be treated for syphilis.
Instead the function of the experiment was to see what happened to patients if their disease was left untreated.
A decade after the experiment began, doctors knew that penicillin would cure the fatal disease.
But the experiment's scientists decided not to give the antibiotic to their patients.
Over the 40-year study patients were given placebos and phony treatments to give them the impression they were getting proper medical care.
The study became publicly known after details were published in the Washington Star, triggering congressional hearings and the termination of the study.
By the time the experiment ended, more than 100 patients had died of syphilis or related issues.
Forty of their wives had been infected, and 19 children were born with congenital syphilis.
Just minutes after take-off on July 25, 2000, an Air France Concorde jet crashed, killing more than 100 people.
The supersonic plane departed Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, near Paris, when it quickly plummeted to the ground after one of its engines caught fire.
Witnesses described seeing a "huge fireball" followed by a dense cloud of black smoke. There were no survivors.
The three albums he released in his so-called "Judas" phase are now considered to be among the best in rock history.
The opening song from his performance, Like A Rolling Stone, was named by Rolling Stone magazine as the greatest song of all time in 2004.
He had recorded the song weeks before his Newport performance.
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