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"A multi-kiloton explosion in Halifax Harbour was the largest blast in pre-atomic history. A flaming armory drifted towards shore as fascinated spectators gathered, Christmas Day, 1916."
The Halifax Explosion occured on December 6, 1917.
I just looked on Wikipedia, and it turns out that there were apparently two explosions in Halifax around that time. The larger of the two was in 1916, but the more infamous is the one in 1917 which you mention. The reason that the second, smaller, one apparently is more well-known is because the war had just started, and so the munitions coming out of the plant were needed. Furthermore, the cause, and the blame, of the second explosion was almost immediately known (and thus the press latched onto the story until it fully played out, adding to its notariety), where as the official cause of the first one was never made public.
I think every serious internet user realizes that Wikipedia is a notoriously unreliable source of information. The professional staff at Gullible.info has expertise, training and resources that a rabble of unpaid volunteers just can't match. I don't mean to crow, but we catch them out time and time again.
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This particular historical incident is so horrible, I want to ask you all to take a moment to picture the scene:
Sleepy Halifax, though perhaps the most important harbor in Canada and critical as a way station for goods and materiel needed for the British war effort, was but a quiet and remote provincial town.
On Christmas Day, 1916, news flashes from house to house! Something exciting-- a ship is burning in the harbor! The townspeople leave their poppers and plum puddings and flock down to the shore. Unopened presents and new toys lie forgotten-- across the water, a massive hulk lists, smoking, drifting.
Unbeknownst to the electrified crowd gathering on the shore, the ship holds thousands of tons of munitions; a fire is sweeping through its lowest decks and the ship is now uncontrollable.
A light Christmas snow is falling on the excited spectators watching, fascinated, as the burning ship slowly draws near...
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To put it in perspective, the blast was about a quarter or a third the size of that that leveled Hiroshima.
And the tragic irony of filling the coffins on Boxing Day brings tears to my eyes...
the explosion occurred in 1916 relative to the people on the other side of the earth due to differing timezones.
i disagree that wikipedia is an unreliable source of information. it's just that it is biased towards the Western community and their timezone.
Taed, earlier on you said that the war had just begun in 1917. on the contrary, the war was raging on christmas day, 1916 - in fact, it had been going on for seven months.
nicefig
"the explosion occurred in 1916 relative to the people on the other side of the earth due to differing timezones."
Honestly, what the f*ck are you talking about? Christmas day is 6 days away from the New Year and the furthest you can be from someone else in terms of timezones on earth is 24 hours. Either I'm missing what you actually are trying to say or that ranks as one of the top 10 most retarded things I've heard this year.
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