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The Sultana tragedy of 1865 is another unknown or largely forgotten event. In terms of maritime disasters the estimated death toll exceeded that of the Titanic.
We could go on all day listing more or less forgotten disasters - things like the Boston Molasses Flood, which killed 21 people in what might be the most bizarre industrial accident of all time.
It's strange how we are so selective about them - such as the endless attention given the Titanic. I suspect if it had been a freighter with nothing but steerage passengers, it would be little remembered as well.
The Sultana tragedy of 1865 is another unknown or largely forgotten event. In terms of maritime disasters the estimated death toll exceeded that of the Titanic.
We could go on all day listing more or less forgotten disasters - things like the Boston Molasses Flood, which killed 21 people in what might be the most bizarre industrial accident of all time.
It is our most unusual industrial cause of mass deaths, for sure.
I recall hearing about this event when I was in Halifax in 1953. They said that the anchor from one of the ships was found 17 miles inland.
If you visit Crescent City, California, there are still people who can point to where large boats came to rest in the surrounding hills after the 1964 tsunami. I was given a first-hand account of the watchman who saw rocks that must be a half-mile out from shore being completely exposed by the out-draw.
These places don't forget, however much the rest of the world might.
Another example is the Peshtigo fire, the same day as the Chicago fire, which destroyed 20 entire Wisconsin towns and killed at least five times as many people.
The Mobile Alabama magazine explosion in May of 1865 was horrific as an explosive event and then the fire that consumed much of the city. It took place just weeks after the end of the Civil War and there were conspiracy theories on how it happened. I have a copy of a letter written by an experienced Union soldier doing provost duty in Mobile that describes human body parts that rained down into the streets and the destruction.
I recently read a book documenting the Halifax explosion: Blizzard of Glass, by Sally M.Walker
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