The sinking of MS WILHELM GUSTLOFF was the worst maritime disaster in world history, with more dead than the Titanic AND Lusitania combined. It was a German refugee ship fleeing Poland and the advancing Russian army near the end of World War II. The Gustloff sank in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by theContinue reading “The Nazi’s Wilhelm Gustloff – the World’s Worst Maritime Disaster”
Category Archives: Historical Disasters
The Bubonic Plague Pandemic, AKA the Black Death
The Bubonic Plague, better known as the Black Death, was one of the worst catastrophes in recorded history. From 1347 to 1351, it ravaged kingdoms across Europe, eradicating one- third of Europe’s inhabitants.
Who Drained Russia’s Vast Aral Sea?
The Aral Sea is actually situated in Central Asia, between Northern Uzbekistan and Southern Kazakhstan. Once the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world, the vanishing Aral Sea is nearly empty now, thanks to a decades-old, Soviet-begun desert irrigation program.
The Forgotten Great Chinese Famine of 1959
From 1959 to 1961, the Chinese people were decimated, not by the coronavirus and COVID-19, but by a devastating famine. The death toll, concealed by the Communist government at the time, is still a matter of debate. The consensus however is that at least 30 million people died, though some estimates take it as high as 50 MILLION.
The 1917 Great Halifax Explosion Eclipsed only by Hiroshima
At 9:05 am on December 6th, 1917, the most devastating man-made explosion, short of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb, occurred in the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada.
Life Before Earth Day and the Environmental Movement
In 1969, Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River was so polluted with industrial waste runoff it Literally Caught Fire! The Potomac, Chicago, Delaware and Hudson rivers all stunk to high heaven with millions of gallons of industrial waste deposited every single day.
The Great Smog of London Killed Thousands
Most everyone knows of the heavy smog that routinely hangs over China’s capital, Beijing. But few remember a far deadlier version that attacked London in 1952. That’s right, London.
APOLLO 1 – The Forgotten First NASA Disaster
Everyone remembers the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle disasters. We all know the famous Apollo 11 Moon landing and the historic first steps of Neil Armstrong in 1969. But few outside NASA recall the Apollo 1 Tragedy that happened just 2 years earlier. On January 27, 1967, during a launch rehearsal at Cape Kennedy, aContinue reading “APOLLO 1 – The Forgotten First NASA Disaster”
Welcome to Centralia – the Town that Burned from Beneath
If you drive north on Route 61 in northeastern Pennsylvania, you will come across an innocent looking detour at the top of a low mountain.
Krakatoa Volcano: the Eruption that Shook the Globe
The eruption of Krakatau island in August 1883 was THE most deadly volcanic explosion in modern history.