From Wiki:
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows" section of the Halifax Harbour. About 2,000 people were killed by debris, fires, or collapsed buildings and it is estimated that over 9,000 people were injured. The Halifax Explosion remains the world's largest man-made accidental explosion.Today marks the 94th anniversary. When I was a kid we studied this when I was in grade four, and I became
obsessed. It was the first time that I really was interested in history, and … it’s a passion that got sparked in grade four and has carried on my whole life :D.
The NS Archives is
is live tweeting the events. I’ll admit. Today will be spent refreshing my twitter feed.
It happened at 9:06 and as you can check out in this
recreation video (kinda cheesy as all the Heritage Minutes are, but hey, I grew up with them!) the ships were on fire first, and people were stopping to look.
It was a crazy, terrible thing. But its part of the history of the city I grew up in, and my fascination with it as a kid, had a lot to do with me becoming a history major.
Also cool (to me) is the following:
( Also from wiki! )