Titanic

Disaster: World's biggest ship, at the time, hits iceberg and sinks. Few lifeboats on board causing high death rate.
Date: April 14-15, 1912
Deaths: over 1,500
Survivors: about 700
Boarded: 2,200

Interesting fact: Most people froze to death, not drown.
                          All second class children survived.
Lesson learned: No ship, no matter how big or well designed, is unsinkable.

On the night of April 14, 1912 Titanic, a British ship, was on her main voyage to New York from England. Due to the night being moonless, the water being still and binoculars locked in a box without a key, the outlookers were not able to see the ice berg until it was nearly upon them. The Crows Nest identified a big black area in the distance as an iceberg. The famous words "iceberg right ahead" were shouted into a phone.

Moments later Titanic collide with the iceberg at 11:40 pm "rupturing at least five compartments" of the hull. (history.com) The ship was designed to stay afloat with no more than four compartments full of water. Titanic only carried 20 lifeboats, "four more than were required by British regulations"  (http://octopus.gma.org/space1/titanic.html). There were only enough lifeboats for half the people on board. An hour past the collision the first lifeboat was lowered. Since the Titanic was said to be unsinkable many people didn't believe the she was going down and therefore went back to their rooms. As time past realization set in the ship was going down. People began to panic and tried jumping into the remaining lifeboats, but shots were fired in the air to keep them back. "Ladies and children first" was the order given to the crew. Wives were separated from their husbands and children from their fathers. Love ones were never seen again.

For years there has been a debate about whether the Titanic broke in two, it was recently confirmed when the wreak was found in 1985 off the coast of NewFoundland. Titanic lays two miles down on the ocean floor where bacteria is eating away the ship.

Like many tragedies the crew is forgotten. Included in the boarding of 2,200 was about 900 crew. On the ship, the crew continued to follow orders trusting that they would be the last to get off before Titanic went under. Three-fourths of the crew perished with the ship.

Some honorable people on board were a band of musicians who played in hopes of calming the crowd in their final moments. To this day no one knows when they stopped. They were greatly honored at their funerals in Europe.

For more info and survivor's testimonies visit http://www.history.com/interactives/titanic-interactive.

Before:

After:

        

1st photo from: http://www.titanicuniverse.com/
2nd photo from: http://www.titanicuniverse.com/
3rd photo from: http://www.titanicuniverse.com/

London's Great Fire

Disaster: One of the World's biggest cities is nearly destroyed by fire.

Date: Sept. 2 - 6, 1666
Deaths: 16
Damage: More than four-fifths of the city burned down.

Interesting Fact: The fire could be seen 30 miles away.

Lesson Learned: Don't have narrow streets or alleyways and construct buildings of brick or stone (not timber.)

   On the evening of September 1, King Charles II's baker, Thomas Farrior, did not distinguish his oven correctly. Around midnight (claims History) a spark landed some wood outside the oven catching fire. The fire quickly grew in size, but Farrior, his family and a servant escaped. Sadly, the baker assistant did not make it out.

   From the baker shop "on Pudding Lane near the London bridge" the fire spread from house to house which many of them were close together and made of timber. Citizens tried to put out the fire with water buckets and taring down buildings, but the fire keep raging on. Finally, the people gave up and ran to their homes to evacuated their family and processions.

   In all, only 16 people "were known to have died" despite the fact that the streets were crowded and narrow (History). History.com estimates that 13,000 houses burned down along with 90 churches.

Not long after the disaster, King Charles II ordered for the rebuilding of the city. A famous architect by the name of Sir Christopher Wren was hired by the King for the new layout of the city. In the design, streets would be wider, houses farther apart, narrow allies "forbidden" and many buildings made of brick or stone.

Firefighters were not a big part of society at this time. In fact, fire departments would not be established until the 18th century (History). Until then people resorted to buckets of water.


Photo from: http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/TheGreatFireOfLondon.asp

Info from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/great-fire-of-london-begins

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Disaster: Factory catches fire trapping workers. (Pre-image of 9/11.)
Date: March 25,1911
Deaths: 145
Lesson Learned: 1. Owners must take responsibility for their workers.
                              2. All buildings have to meet fire regulations.

Interesting Fact: "Within 18 minutes, 145 lay dead" (History.com)

In the early 20th century in New York City, rights for workers were very few. Many factory employees were young women and children working long hours in bad conditions and with little pay. History Channel claims that each worker would receive $15 per week after working 12 hours everyday. Due to the bad conditions many people (especially women) protested for workers rights. In order to prevent protests managers locked doors at work. Including the Triangle Factory.

On a Saturday afternoon just before the work day was over, a cigarette or pipe was tossed in a rag bin catching fire. A manager, notified by one of the 600 workers, threw a pail of water over the bin, but the fire had already gotten out of control. Panicked workers (on the eighth floor) ran for the exits leaving the building. A lady on the eighth floor called up to the tenth floor yelling "Fire! Fire!" The operator quickly went to notify the tenth floor never giving the news to the ninth floor.

Exits were limited with doors either locked or impassable, a fire escape and one operational elevator. Some women took the fire escape which collapsed under their weight killing a dozen women. Others went down a staircase that proved to be impassable trapping them. All 49 women in the stair case were buried alive. Not long after, the fire reached the elevator (on the fourth trip) closing the last possibility for escape. Women started jumping when then knew their sentence was death. Three people at a time jumped from the ninth floor making a big thud sound as they hit the ground. They were killed instantly.

The whole event took less than one hour.

The owner Max Blanck was questioned and ordered to spend five days in the slammer or pay $20. The article 100 Years Ago: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire describes Blanck's reaction. “He smiled, pulled out a ‘roll’ of money as thick as his arm, peeled off a $20 bill and walked off.”

History.com sums up the whole disaster in the following sentence "The tragedy brought widespread attention to the dangerous sweatshop conditions of factories, and led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of workers."

Pre-Image of 9/11
The reason why this fire was a pre-image of 9/11 is because many workers on high floors were trapped as the fire spread throughout the building. Firefighter ladders could not reach the floor and finally people started jumping as their last option. This event also occurred in New York City. Due to the disaster being on a Saturday afternoon people were out strolling enjoying the outdoors when they witnessed the horror.

Info from:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/triangle-shirtwaist-fire-in-new-york-city
http://www.history.com/news/2011/03/24/100-years-ago-the-triangle-shirtwaist-fire/

Tri-State Tornado

Disaster: Tornado tares through three states

Date: March 18, 1925

Deaths: 695
Injured: 13,000
Damage Cost: $17 Million

Facts:
   Tri-State Tornado is the worst tornado in the U.S.

   The town of Griffin, Indiana was wiped out.
   Tornado was a mile wide. 

      Around 1p.m. outside of Ellington, Missouri an F5 tornado (the worst on tornado scale) rips through southeast Missouri, southern Illinois and southwest Indiana. Recorded as the deadliest tornado in U.S. history the Tri-State Tornado is also the longest tornado track with 219 miles(NOAA.) The huge tornado was on the ground for three hours with winds faster than 70mph, taring up towns, injuring and killing people. In roughly 40 minutes 541 people were killed and 1,423 injured in Illinois.

Due to radar and satellite imagery not being invented residents received little if any warning of the disastrous storm heading towards them. In fact "Tornado Watch" and "Tornado Warning" were never heard of. NOAA claims that "even if a watch/warning program were in place, the message would have never been disseminated in such a fashion to give people the necessary lead time to seek shelter."

 Quotes from NOAA:
"The handful of unscathed citizens from Griffen and surroundings districts were confronted with destruction so complete that some could only guess where they had once lived."

    -Mr. Felknor
        Griffin, Indiana

"Then the air was filled with 10,000 things. Boards, poles, cans, garments, stoves, whole sides of the little frames houses, in some cases the houses themselves, were picked up and smashed to earth. And living beings, too. A baby was blown from its mother's arms. A cow, picked up by the wind, was hurled into the village restaurant." 
 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch Newspaper
                March 20, 1925

Info from:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/?n=1925tor

 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-tri-state-tornado

Photo from:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tri-state+tornado&view=detail&id=70401633F1DF5569E51DAEB7160B8B4C4227940F&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Indian Ocean Tsunami

Disaster: Huge tsunami causes major devastation in multiple countries.

Date: Dec. 26, 2004
Deaths: At least 225,000
Countries affected: 12



Countries most damaged:  Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, and Thailand

Just before 8am local time, a 9.0 earthquake rumbled the Indian Ocean. In 8 hours, wave after wave of tsunamis hit the South and Southeast parts of Asia. People ran for their lives as the Indian Ocean rushed in.
With large numbers of reported deaths History Channel claims that at least 225,000 were killed. As populated as Asia is, not all of them were resident's. Included in the death numbers are tourists from around the world.

When Asia cried out for help, the world came to their aid. Relief workers faced multiple challenges. Big issues included lack of food, water, shelter  and medical supplies. Not only the need for these items, but transporting them was yet another task. Roads severely damaged made passing them nearly impossible. History Channel also says that "Long-term environmental damage was severe as well, with villages, tourist resorts, farmland, and fishing grounds demolished or inundated with debris, bodies, and plant-killing salt water."

Info from: http://www.history.com/topics/indian-ocean-tsunami

Photos from:
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/03files/Endangered_Earth_Subduction_Zone_01.html

The Courrieres' Mine Disaster

Disaster: A spark causes a huge mine explosion.
Date: March 10, 1906
Deaths: 1,060
Injuries: Over 1,000
Location: Courrieres, France
Lesson: This disaster is a reminder that mining is dangerous. So many people have either died or suffered from diseases caused by toxic gas or burns from fires while mining.

Interesting Fact: The mine explosion in France on March 10, 1906 is the worst mining disaster in Europe's history.

Photo from: http://www.city-data.com/forum/history/914400-upon-day-history-march-1-31-a-2.html

     On the afternoon of March 9 a fire started in one of the "complex series of mines"(history.com) in Courrieres, France. Coal, dug up by men and boys, was mostly used for the manufacture of gas. History Channel goes on to say that the miners chose to close openings near the fire in order to reduce oxygen eventually killing the fire. What the miners were not aware of was that flammable gas found it's way in through fissures. Since there were so many other mines men went back to work the next day.

     At 7 am on March 10, a spark triggered by the gas caused a huge explosion. Fire came shooting out all exits killing some people outside the mines. Even a roof of a mine office building was "blasted" off. As desperate as people needed help rescuers could not enter the mine due to the fire still burning and tunnels no longer stable. Even thou it was dangerous to enter a group of 40 men risked their lives in order to save others. All 40 men of the rescue group died when the tunnel the were traveling in collapsed.

     In the end over a 1,000 people were killed. An even greater number were injured. Many of those victims suffered from major burns. History.com claims that there was so much "chaos" outside the mine that French soldiers had to step in for help. It wouldn't be until weeks later that all the bodies were found and identified.

Great Diasters