Only a handful of tornadoes each year cause loss of life and/or significant property damage- and such storms are certainly a significant part of American history. But a particularly costly storm in 1948 not only made history, it changed our very understanding of tornadoes themselves, resulting in the first tornado forecast.
History is all around us, and it is amazing to me how it can become lost in plain sight. For example, language is chocked full of forgotten history.