The Halifax explosion happened, if i remember my junior high schooling, it is the largest man made explosion other than the two bombs dropped on Japan in WW2.
Over 1,600 people were killed instantly and 9,000 were injured, more than 300 of whom later died.[23] Every building within a 2.6-kilometre (1.6 mi) radius, over 12,000 in total, was destroyed or badly damaged.[59] Hundreds of people who had been watching the fire from their homes were blinded when the blast wave shattered the windows in front of them.[64] Stoves and lamps overturned by the force of the blast sparked fires throughout Halifax,[65] particularly in the North End, where entire city blocks were caught up in the inferno, trapping residents inside their houses. Firefighter Billy Wells, who was thrown away from the explosion and had his clothes torn from his body, described the devastation survivors faced: "The sight was awful, with people hanging out of windows dead. Some with their heads missing, and some thrown onto the overhead telegraph wires." He was the only member of the eight-man crew of the fire engine "Patricia" to survive.[66]
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An estimated c$35 million in damages resulted ($562 million today).
I also seem to recall that a day or two after the explosion a large storm and cold temperatures arrived in the area.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Corporal Jean-Marc H. BECHARD, 6 Aug 1993
Last edited by undercoverbrother; 12-06-2016 at 09:26 AM.
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I seem to recall learning that emergency response arrived from Boston to help deal with the tragedy and to this day, Halifax still sends a Christmas tree from the Nova Scotia forest to Boston as a symbol of friendship and thanks.
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The death toll could have been worse had it not been for the self-sacrifice of an Intercolonial Railway dispatcher, Patrick Vincent (Vince) Coleman, operating at the railyard about 750 feet (230 m) from Pier 6, where the explosion occurred. He and his co-worker, William Lovett, learned of the dangerous cargo aboard the burning Mont-Blanc from a sailor and began to flee. Coleman remembered, however, that an incoming passenger train from Saint John, New Brunswick, was due to arrive at the railyard within minutes. He returned to his post alone and continued to send out urgent telegraph messages to stop the train. Several variations of the message have been reported, among them this from the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic: "Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys." Coleman's message was responsible for bringing all incoming trains around Halifax to a halt. It was heard by other stations all along the Intercolonial Railway, helping railway officials to respond immediately.[70][71] Passenger Train No. 10, the overnight train from Saint John, is believed to have heeded the warning and stopped a safe distance from the blast at Rockingham, saving the lives of about 300 railway passengers. Coleman was killed at his post as the explosion ripped through the city.[70] He was honoured with a Heritage Minute in the 1990s and inducted into the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in 2004.[
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99 Years Ago Today
