Disasters timeline
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Cherry Mine Disaster
Cherry is in Bureau county, 100 miles north and slightly west of Decatur, and about 10 miles north of Spring Valley, the home of John Mitchell. It... Read more
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Wellington Avalanche
The Cascade Tunnel, completed in 1900, bypassed the switchbacks. Several snowsheds were also added for safety, but winter conditions still... Read more
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Great Fire of 1910
Official reports after the Big Blowup estimated that 1,736 total fires burned more than 3 million acres of private and federal land and consumed an... Read more
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Kingsland, Indiana Interurban Train Wreck
The disaster, rated as the worst in all interurban history, occurred at a sharp curve, near Kingsland, six miles from Bluffton. The line is... Read more
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Pretoria Pit Disaster
The explosion occurred at 7.50am on 21 Dec 1910, originating at the west end of North Plodder No.2 coal face, some 640 yards (580m) NNW of No.3... Read more
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Sinking of the SS Yongala
On the morning of 23 March, Yongala steamed into Mackay to drop off and receive passengers and discharge 50 tons of cargo, leaving 617 tons in the... Read more
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Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Women and girl machine operators jumped from the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors in groups of twos and threes into life nets and their bodies spun... Read more
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Battleship Liberté Explosion
Liberté's magazines explode accidentally on Sept. 25, 1911, destroying the 3-year-old ship and showering her neighbors in Toulon Harbor (including... Read more
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Austin Pennsylvania Flood
Sept. 30, 1911 ushered in the Potter County primary election. Early in the morning, two false fire alarms rattled the town. The Saturday shopping... Read more
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RMS Titanic Sinks after Striking an Iceberg
Walter Belford was Titanic's night chief baker. "We were working on the fifth deck amidships baking for the next day. There was a shudder all... Read more
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Helgoland Island Air Disaster
The Helgoland Island Air Disaster occurred on September 9, 1913, and is traditionally considered the first air disaster involving more than ten... Read more
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Senghenydd Explosion
The worst pit-disaster of the 20th century occurred at the Universal, Senghennydd on 14 October 1913. More than 400 men were trapped underground by... Read more
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Great Lakes Storm of 1913
Anyone living in the Great Lakes Region for an extended period of time can become all too familiar with the incredible storms, or low pressure... Read more
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Fifty-nine Children killed in Italian Hall disaster in Calumet, Michigan
A once-thriving mining town in Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula is still haunted by the tragic events that inspired Woody Guthrie's song "1913... Read more
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Sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland
Only 14 minutes after having being struck by the Storstad, the Empress keeled over. Captain Kendall was thrown from the bridge and was eventually... Read more
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Hillcrest Mine Disaster
On the morning of June 19th of 1914, a massive methane and coal dust explosion rocked the Hillcrest Collieries coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass of... Read more
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Destruction of HMS Bulwark
On 27 November 1914, while taking on ammunition at Sheerness, she “suddenly blew up with an appalling explosion” (Official History vol. II). When... Read more
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Avezzano Earthquake of 1915
The 1915 Avezzano earthquake or 1915 L'Aquila earthquake occurred on January 13 in southern Italy, by L'Aquila. The epicenter was located in the... Read more
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Sinking of the Lusitania
On May 7, 1915, the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to... Read more
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Quintinshill Rail Disaster
On 22 May 1915, a 213 yard long troop train was telescoped down to 67 yards, a third of its original length, when it was involved in a triple... Read more
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S.S. Eastland flips over on Chicago River, killing over 800 people including 22 entire families
Early on the morning of Saturday, July 24, 1915, with a light rain falling and the air filled with much anticipation and excitement, thousands... Read more
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Galveston Hurricane of 1915
The 1915 Galveston Hurricane was a deadly hurricane that struck Leeward Islands, Hispanola, Cuba and Texas, in mid August of the 1915 Atlantic... Read more
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HMS Natal Explosion
On 30th December 1915 Natal was lying in the Cromarty Firth with her squadron under the command of Captain Eric Back RN. Shortly after 3.20pm, and... Read more
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Ernest Mine Disaster
At 3:20 in the afternoon an explosion killed 27 men in the section of the mine that was affected and burned 4 others who escaped. The 150 men in... Read more
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Faversham Gunpowder Mill Explosion
At 14:20 on Sunday 2nd April 1916, 109 men and boys were killed by an explosion at the gun powder works at Uplees, near Faversham. 200 tons of TNT... Read more