100th Anniversary of the Halifax Explosion

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's been almost 100 years since a shipping accident caused the largest non nuclear, man made explosion occurred in Halifax, wiping away a good portion of my city, including the neighborhood I live in.

The city of Boston, Massachusetts sent a lot of aid at the time to help survivors, and, since getting back on our feet, the city of Halifax has selected the finest tree in the province to send to Boston for display in the middle of the city for Christmas.

Today I managed to spot the tree before it begins its journey down the coast and I thought I'd share with all of you!

Def

[Barry Rowland]

  Def!  That's a big, beautiful tree!

[nakken]

I have never heard of this accident, even though the ship it collided with was Norwegian. I looked it up on Wikipedia, nearly 2000 deaths and about 9000 injured. Shocking numbers and a real tragedy.

It is a very nice symbol of gratitude to give a tree to those who helped, our government has done the same after WWII. Very cool that you got to see it depart

[Aloha]

  

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well it looks like I got it wrong....

It may be 100 years of the tree.  There was a sign at the back of the trailer that said 100 years may be 100 years of trees or it may have been an old sign. 

2017 was the hundred anniversary of the Explosion.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have never heard of this accident, even though the ship it collided with was Norwegian. I looked it up on Wikipedia, nearly 2000 deaths and about 9000 injured. Shocking numbers and a real tragedy.

It is a very nice symbol of gratitude to give a tree to those who helped, our government has done the same after WWII. Very cool that you got to see it depart

The Halifax Explosion was a terrible incident.  The ships collided and were burning, but there was no way in those days to warn large amounts of people, and so many people were watching the ships burn from their windows.  When the ship exploded it shattered windows for miles.  People further away were blinded by the flash.

Many of the early advancements in eye care and treatment were a direct result of the Halifax Explosion.

The National Film Board of Canada produced a lot of vignettes years ago that would play on TV between shows, and there is a very good one about the Halifax Explosion.



Def

[Farmer X]

I was awlso unfamiliar with that very tragic incident. From Wikipedia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion

Cool to see the tree on its route, and very appropriately being pulled by a Canadian tractor!

[Grant Lamontagne]

There are various spots around the city where there are very out of place things.  For example, one neighborhood on the other side of the Harbour from me has what's left of a cannon.  This is just where it.  Another spot on my side of the water has a fragment of an anchor and it's quite far inland.

Here is where the gun is:

Mont Blanc Gun
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4FHHiyFMw1TG9RUA7

And here is where the anchor is:
Mont-Blanc Anchor Site
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Yrb7B7qK4rbvve7n9

Scary when you think of how far that anchor was sent!  For those keeping track, that's about 2.5 miles from the blast site.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

The Explosion happened in The Narrows, near Pier 9.

Pier 9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/RC8xenD4fPBFTWXT8

And for reference, this is my house:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/MZbT9SzUdWivTHnx8

At the time of the Halifax Explosion this area was a large field for gathering livestock, and the park next to me was a quarry for the prison that was right above it.  The prison survived without significant damage, but if you look at maps from before the explosion until now, even the streets are in different places.  Imagine how devastating an explosion has to be to even remove any indication of where the streets used to be.   

Def

[Pacu]

I watch a documentary about the explosion On Amazon I believe. I think it was the largest non nuclear explosion for some time. Down here in Texas they had the Texas City explosion on the gulf down by Houston in the 50's . Boat caught ablaze with fertilizer and blew Texas City off the map.

That anchor flying that far.