Category Archives: Historical Disasters

The Great White Hurricane – the Terrible Blizzard of 88

Few winter storms are as legendary as the American Blizzard of 88, dumping 55 inches (140 cm) of snow in the northeast U.S. It was the snowiest, coldest and deadliest, winter storm in American history.  From March 11-13, 1888, over 400 souls perished, including 200 in New York City alone.  Many people were literally buried inContinue reading “The Great White Hurricane – the Terrible Blizzard of 88”

The New York Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Killed 146

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company was located on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Asch Building, situated at the corner of Washington Square in New York City’s Greenwich Village.  On 25 March 1911 at 4:40 pm, a fire broke out on the eighth floor, The flames then rapidly consumed both it and the twoContinue reading “The New York Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Killed 146”

The German Reichstag Fire Sparked Hitler’s Rise to Power

On 27 February 1933, the German parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, went up in flames from an arson attack.  Adolf Hitler skillfully harnessed the after effects of the Reichstag Fire to seize absolute power.  Hitler claimed the fire was a Communist attempt to overthrow the government.  He played upon public and political fears of chaosContinue reading “The German Reichstag Fire Sparked Hitler’s Rise to Power”

The 1977 Tenerife Airport Disaster

On Sunday 27 March 1977, just after 5:00 PM, two 747 jumbo jets collided during take-off on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport in the Canary Islands off the Spanish coast. The collision caused a massive explosion and both aircraft were engulfed in flames. The Tenerife airport disaster remains the deadliest crash in aviation history.Continue reading “The 1977 Tenerife Airport Disaster”

The Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident

On February 1959, nine experienced Russian hikers went missing while trekking in Russia’s Ural Mountains.  They were ultimately all found dead in Dyatlov Pass with unusual injuries. The Soviet government at the time attributed the cause of death to a “compelling natural force.”  But that hardy explains the bizarre frozen corpses that rescuers found.  ItContinue reading “The Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident”

The Forgotten USS Akron Airship Disaster

Most everyone knows of Germany’s Zeppelin the Hindenburg and its infamous destruction by fire in Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937.  But few know that the United States also had an airship fleet of dirigibles at the same time.  And one of its members, the USS Akron, met a tragic fate as well, just four yearsContinue reading “The Forgotten USS Akron Airship Disaster”

The Lost Spanish Treasure Fleets

The two biggest, treasure fleet wrecks happened in 1715 and 1733, just 18 years apart.  Both were the result of fierce Caribbean hurricanes attacking Spanish bound fleets, loaded to the rafters with silver, gold, jewels, and other colonial treasure.   Such treasure fleets were routine in the waters around Florida and Cuba.  Nearly every year, fromContinue reading “The Lost Spanish Treasure Fleets”

America’s Chernobyl – Three Mile Island

The Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear incident is the closest the United States ever came to a Chernobyl or Fukushima-level nuclear disaster.  In March 1979, a series of human and mechanical errors caused the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.  It resulted in a partial meltdown of the reactor core, and a release of dangerousContinue reading “America’s Chernobyl – Three Mile Island”

California’s Vanishing Salton Sea

California’s largest lake is the man-made Salton Sea, a shallow, salt water lake in the middle of the southern California desert.  It sits just north of the Mexican border.  The Salton Sea lies in what used to be an ancient dry lake bed, only five feet higher than Death Valley. Today it is sadly vanishingContinue reading “California’s Vanishing Salton Sea”