1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey, history fans, if you want a double dose of history, 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: here's a rerun for today, brought to you by Tracy V. Wilson. 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: We hope it makes previous episodes for this date easier 4 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: to find in the feed. Welcome to this Day in 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com and from 6 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: the desk of Stuff you missed in History Class. It's 7 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:20,319 Speaker 1: the show where we explore the past one day at 8 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: a time with a quick look at what happened today 9 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson, 10 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: and its December six. The Halifax disaster took place on 11 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: this day in nineteen seventeen. With the exception of nuclear explosions, 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: this is one of the biggest man made explosions in 13 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: history and it happened when two ships collided in the 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: harbor at Halifax. There was a French freighter called the 15 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: mont Block and a Norwegian freighter called the Emo. The 16 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: mom Block was carrying explosives for the war effort. This 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: was during World War One. The Emo was headed to 18 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: New York to pick up food to take to Belgium 19 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:07,639 Speaker 1: as part of a relief effort because there were people 20 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: in Europe who were frankly starving in the wake of 21 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: World War One. Neither of these ships plans to be 22 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: in the harbor at this particular time. There was an 23 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: anti submarine boom that was being used at night to 24 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: try to protect the harbor from German U boats, and 25 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: the Emo had wanted to leave the day before, but 26 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 1: they needed to pick up an order of coal, and 27 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: that coal didn't get there until it was too late. 28 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:36,199 Speaker 1: The boom had already been put in place they couldn't 29 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,279 Speaker 1: get out. The mont Blanc was supposed to have arrived 30 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: on the sixth, but had gotten there a little bit 31 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,839 Speaker 1: ahead of schedule the night before, but also too late 32 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: to get into the harbor. So then on the morning 33 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: of the six both ships are trying to navigate a 34 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: very busy, very crowded narrow waterway, and they started approaching 35 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: each other on a collision course. After a sea ris 36 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: of twists and turns and attempts to get around other 37 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,639 Speaker 1: maritime traffic, the Emo hit the mont Block a little 38 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: after eight thirty am. When this happened, some of the 39 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: containers aboard the mom Block broke and sparks from the 40 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: collision started a fire. So the mom Blocks Captain knowing 41 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: what was aboard, ordered everybody to abandon ship, but no 42 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: one else really knew what the mont Block was carrying. Normally, 43 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: it would have been flying a flag marking that it 44 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,399 Speaker 1: carried munitions, so people would have known there was explosive 45 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: material aboard the ship, but that wasn't being flown because 46 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: of the war effort. There were fears that doing that 47 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: would just make the ship a target for a German 48 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: torpedo attack. So when this collision happened on shore, a 49 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: lot of people stopped what they were doing to go watch, 50 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: which is a pretty normal human behavior. They did know 51 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: that there was such dangerous material on one of the ships, 52 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: they didn't know they needed to take cover. People gathered 53 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: at windows and all of the buildings around the water. 54 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: They gathered on rooftops, and the few people who did, 55 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: for whatever reason, know what was happening or into it 56 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: what was happening, they tried to clear the docks and 57 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: get people out of the way, but there were just 58 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: too many people, not enough for knowledge of what was 59 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: about to happen, and at nine oh six am, the 60 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: mom Block exploded. Debris was thrown for miles away from 61 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: the ship. The ship's gun landed five and a half 62 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: kilometers away, and it said the shock wave from the 63 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: explosion was felt three hundred kilometers away. Hundreds of people 64 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: instantly died, and all together more than two thousand people 65 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: were killed and nine thousand more were injured and needed 66 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: medical treatment. A lot of the injuries where eye injuries 67 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: and blind this thousands of buildings were also damaged in 68 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: the explosion. A rescue effort started almost immediately, but was 69 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: soon hampered by a blizzard. Naturally, an inquiry followed this. 70 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: It had been a major disaster with a huge loss 71 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: of life, but ultimately it was found that the mont 72 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,239 Speaker 1: Blanc and the Emo were both at fault. The City 73 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: of Boston sent aid to the city of Halifax, and 74 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: in return, Halifax sends a Christmas tree to Boston every year, 75 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: with a lot of pomp and fanfare on both ends 76 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: of the journey. You can learn more about this on 77 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: the December nineteen eleven episode of Stuff You Miss in 78 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: History Class. Thanks to Casey P. Graham and Chandler Mays 79 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: for their audio work on this show. You can subscribe 80 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,799 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google podcast, 81 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: the I Heart radio app, and wherever else. Get your podcasts, 82 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: and you can tune in tomorrow for a date that 83 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:01,799 Speaker 1: still does live in infamy, The two Number Talk