A blowout at the
Ixtoc I oil well in the southern
Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst
oil spill to date. Some estimate the spill to be 428 million gallons, making it the largest unintentional
oil spill until it was surpassed by the
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010.