• The St. Pierre Snake Invasion – The Eruption of Mt. Pelee

    In the late 1890’s and early 1900’s, St. Pierre, Martinique was known as the “Paris of the West Indies”. It was renown for its red-tiled cottage, beautiful tropical plants and charming streets. Although most of the population of 20,000 were native Martiniquans, most of the wealthy were Creoles or French colonial officials. The only thing marring this paradise was the volcano looming over its picturesque streets. Citizens of the area were so use to the volcanic activity on the ‘bald mountain’, that no one took it seriously when the fresh steaming vent-holes and earth tremors stared during April 1902. On April 23, 1902, minor explosions began at the summit of…

  • 1886 Eruption of Mount Tarawera and the Phantom Canoe

    The volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in New Zealand on June 10,1886 was one of New Zealand’s greatest natural disasters. The eruption lasted for six hours and caused unparalleled destruction. Located 24 kilometers southeast of Rotorua in the North Island, many Maori villages were located near by. It was also near a natural wonder called the Pink and White Terraces. These were on the shores of Lake Rotomahana and were considered to be the eighth wonder of the world. The Maori name for this natural formation was Otukapuarangi, fountain of the clouded sky, and Te Tarata, the tattooed rock. The terraces were formed as water containing silica flowed down from…

  • The Great Storm of 1854

    In 1853, Britain was embroiled with its allies in an invasion of the Crimean peninsula in order to destroy the naval base at Sevastopol.  It was four on one fight of Britain, France, the Otttoman Empire and Sardinia against Russia, which was making territory incursions into Modavia and Wallachia in the Balkans.  This war turned into a three year slog which was characterized as a “notoriously incompetent international butchery” by historian Alexis Troubetkoy.  By the fall of 1854, the supply situation for both sides were looking bleak.  The Allies had only prepared for a summer campaign, so winter supplies were badly needed.  A fleet, of both British and French ships,…

  • September 11 Memorial and Museum

    In memory of those who lost their lives on September 11th 2001. May your stars shine forever as a beacon of hope for the future. Construction workers arrived at the site of ground zero on March 16, 2006 to begin building what would become the memorial site for the events that took place on September 11, 2001. An unfinished site was opened to the public on September 12, 2011 but on May 25, 2014, the entire construction site was complete. Located in the footprints of the twin towers are two reflecting pools, roughly 1 acre in size each and made of solid granite. An engineering feat within the pools themselves…

  • Ramstein

    We’ve all heard of the German Heavy Metal band Rammstein, I’m sure. Their famous offerings including ‘Ich Will’, ‘Feuer Frei’ and ‘Sonne’. But there’s a story behind their name, and that story is the Ramstein Airshow Disaster. The band initially named Rammstein-Flugschau (Ramstein Airshow- the extra ‘m’ was a spelling mistake which they kept) have since stepped away from the association, claiming the name came from the “ramming stone” of the same name – a large stone doorstop affair found on old gates but the initial addition of the ‘flugschau’ berates that story. But that’s not really the topic for today. In the Summer of 1988, my friends and I…