If you approached Galveston, Texas from the Gulf of Mexico in 1900, it looked like an American Venice.
Tag Archives: disaster
5 Reasons the 1889 Johnstown Flood Should Never Have Happened
The Johnstown Pennsylvania Flood of 1889 was more a man-made Tsunami than flood by Mother Nature.
Was the Great Chicago Fire Started by a Cow?
It is true the infamous fire started in the barn of Catherine and Patrick O’Leary on Sunday night, October 8th, 1871.
The Lusitania Sank in Just 18 Minutes, Beating Titanic!
The ocean liner Lusitania was struck by a German torpedo in 1915 and sunk within sight of the Irish coast in just 18 Minutes! Compare that to the rather luxurious sinking of the Titanic three years earlier in 1912 that lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes. We have all seen the popular movie, so justContinue reading “The Lusitania Sank in Just 18 Minutes, Beating Titanic!”
The MV Doña Paz – the Worst Maritime Disaster in History
While the Titanic and Lusitania may be the more famous shipwrecks, their death toll was but a third of the world’s deadliest, taking the lives of over 4,300 souls. Just five days before Christmas, the MV Doña Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker, burnt to the water line, and sank in the Philippine Sea. Continue reading “The MV Doña Paz – the Worst Maritime Disaster in History”
The Tragic Sinking of China’s SS Kiangya
On the night of December 4th,1948, the passenger steamship SS Kiangya exploded and sank just north of Shanghai, China. It was the world’s worst non-military maritime disaster at the time. The steamship blew up at the mouth of the Yangtze River, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Shanghai and rapidly sank. The suspected cause – a mineContinue reading “The Tragic Sinking of China’s SS Kiangya”
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 Deadliest Circus Train Wreck in History
One of the worst train wrecks in U.S. history happened with, of all things, a Circus Train. It was carrying over 400 performers when another train rear-ended it in the dead the night; and they burst into flames. The horrific tragedy happened to the famous Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus at Dutchman’s Curve near Hammond, Indiana on 22 June 1918. The circus train was stopped on the tracks for repairs. The circus train wreck killed 89 performers and roustabouts, and injured over 150 more. How could such a terrible disaster have occurred during the Golden Age of railroads?
Chicago’s SS Eastland Disaster topped Titanic
In July of 1915 on the Chicago River, the SS Eastland, carrying over 2,500 passengers and crew headed for a Western Electric company picnic, suddenly listed to port and rolled over into the muddy river. 844 souls perished, more than on the Titanic or Lusitania; yet the SS Eastland is lost in history to most.