The Halifax Explosion, 97 Years Ago Today

When we grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in school we learned about the 'Halifax Explosion.' It happened on this date 97 years ago. On December 6, 1917 to make a long story short, two ships collided in Halifax Harbour. One was a relief vessel the other a munitions ship. It was foggy and the munitions blew up. Almost 2000 were killed and most of the city was in ruins.

The Mont Blanc was a munitions ship heading to war out of Halifax Harbour loaded with TNT, among other explosives, and the Imo was a relief boat coming into the harbor to pick up supplies. A major miscommunication lead to the biggest man made explosion in history at the time, until the atomic bomb. It created a tsunami in the harbor and the next day came a huge blizzard. It was 1917, so there wasn't any tweeting or really any way to get the word out to the people of the city quickly. Many folks went down to the harbor-front to watch as the ship smoked up before the explosion.

When I was young there were still a few alive who told first hand stories of the event, but as the ball spins and years go on, I'm sure all have passed who were there at the time.

There's a little history from my hometown.

This is actual video of what people were going through the days after 12/06/17