The Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred April 16, 1947 in the Port of Texas City, Texas. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions. Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp, her cargo of approximately 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate detonated, initiating a subsequent chain-reaction of additional fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities. It killed at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. The disaster triggered the first ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the then-recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims.
Patrick Vincent Coleman was a train dispatcher for the Canadian Government Railways who was killed in the Halifax Explosion, but not before he sent a message to an incoming passenger train to stop out of range of the explosion. Today he is remembered as one of the heroic figures from the disaster.
The North End of Halifax is a subdivision of Halifax, Nova Scotia occupying the northern part of Halifax Peninsula immediately north of Downtown Halifax. The area once included historic Africville, and parts of it were severely damaged in the Halifax Explosion during World War I. More recently the area has undergone gentrification, and now has many trendy shops and restaurants.
The South End is a neighbourhood of Halifax Regional Municipality, located on the southern half of the Halifax Peninsula in Halifax's urban centre. Quinpool Road is increasingly considered to be an arbitrary border between the South and North Ends, though Quinpool Road is also a part of the West End, and is home, for example, to the West End Baptist Church.
John Francis Dunsworth was a Canadian actor, best known for playing the alcoholic trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey on the comedy series Trailer Park Boys, despite not drinking for the part. He is also known for playing the mysterious reporter Dave Teagues on the supernatural drama series Haven, and for playing Officer McNabb in Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion, a CBC film about the 1917 Halifax Explosion. He had extensive experience in regional theater.
HUSAR is the Toronto Heavy Urban Search and Rescue unit CAN-TF3 - a USAR unit able to response to disaster situations at a city, provincial and national level as well as offer international assistance.
SS Mont-Blanc was a freighter built in Middlesbrough, England in 1899 and purchased by the French company, Société Générale de Transport Maritime (SGTM). On Thursday morning, 6 December 1917, she entered Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada laden with a full cargo of highly volatile explosives. As she made her way through the Narrows towards Bedford Basin, she was involved in a collision with SS Imo, a Norwegian ship. A fire aboard the French ship ignited her cargo of wet and dry 2300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, and 10 tons of guncotton. The resultant Halifax Explosion levelled the Richmond District and killed approximately 2,000 people, and the injured were approximately 9000.
Peter Francis Martin was a contractor and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Halifax in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1921 as a Unionist Party member. Martin was elected by acclamation in the Khaki Election of 1917; in Halifax, the election was postponed after the Halifax Explosion and Martin's Liberal opponent withdrew in a show of post-explosion unity. Martin replaced Prime Minister Robert Borden, who had run in Kings County. Martin sat for Halifax division in the Senate of Canada from 1921 to 1935 as a Conservative.
John "Eric" Davidson was one of the last survivors of the Halifax Explosion. He was 2 and 1/2 years old when he was blinded by the Halifax Explosion on December 6, 1917. At the time of his death in 2009, Davidson was the penultimate living survivor with permanent injuries from the Halifax Explosion, which killed more than 1,600 people.
SS Imo was a steamship that served in passenger and freight trades and later as a whaling supply ship. Christened SS Runic, she was bought, sold and renamed numerous times during her career. In 1917, Imo was under Norwegian registry chartered by the Belgian Relief Commission to bring supplies to war-ravaged Europe.
Ashpan Annie was the name given to Halifax Explosion survivor Anne M. Welsh.
The Halifax Explosion Memorial Sculpture was a work of public art in Halifax, Nova Scotia created in 1966 by the Quebec artist Jordi Bonet to commemorate the Halifax Explosion. The sculpture was located at the Halifax North Memorial Library but was dismantled in 2004 by the Halifax Regional Municipality and accidentally destroyed while in storage.
Stella Maris was a steamship built in 1882 as the Royal Navy gunboat HMS Starling and converted to steam tug in 1905. Stella Maris played a major role in the events of the Halifax Explosion in 1917.
The Bedford Magazine explosion was a conflagration resulting in a series of explosions from July 18 to 19, 1945, in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada. During World War II, the adjacent cities of Halifax and Dartmouth, provided heavy support for Canada's war effort in Europe.
The Halifax Explosion has frequently been the subject of works of popular culture.
Janet F. Kitz is an author and historian in Halifax, Nova Scotia who played a key role in the recognition of the 1917 Halifax Explosion, the largest man-made explosion prior to the atomic bomb and the worst man-made disaster in Canadian history.
