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The Great Fire of 1910
It was “fanned by a tornadic wind so violent that the flames flattened out ahead, swooping to earth in great darting curves, truly a veritable red demon from hell.” Touted as the largest forest fire in America and quite possibly the largest anywhere, the great fire of 1910 was fueled by a seemingly perfect combination of events. No cause was ever determined after the fire but many different factors have to be taken into account when examining the great fire or what is also called The Big Blowup. The winter’s snow had melted early and the western states of America were experiencing a drought. In fact the rain had stopped…
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The Ashtabula Disaster
On Friday, December 29, a blizzard was hitting the little town of Ashtabula, Ohio with more than 20 inches of snow and wind around 50mph. Despite the weather many passengers were trying to leave town after the holidays or were waiting for friends or family to arrive. Many of them awaited the arrival of the No.5 “Pacific Express” that was running more than two hours late from Erie, Pennsylvania. Weather delays had kept it in the Erie station until after 6:00 p.m. What was to come was tragic. The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Train No. 5, The Pacific Express, left Erie, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of December…
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TAY BRIDGE DISASTER
It was a miserable evening in Dundee on the 28th December 1879. The rain was pouring and the wind, estimated to be gusting up to 80mph was howling. The storm registered around 10 to 11 on the Beaufort scale. At a little after 7pm, the Edinburgh train entered the newly opened Tay Bridge…… Designed and built by Sir Thomas Bouch, it was opened officially the year before. Bouch was famous for his design of the world’s first roll-on/roll off train ferry, which had been in operation across the Firth of Forth for almost thirty years. He was also responsible for the construction of several rail lines, Portobello Pier, a number…
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The Floods of 1287
On December 14, 1287 a strong storm tide caused a dike to break and decimate parts of the Netherlands and Northern Germany (the day after St. Lucia Day), killing between 50,000 to 80,000 people. Land was permanently flooded in an area now known as the Waddenzee and IJsselmeer. It especially affected the north of the Netherlands, particularly Friesland. The island of Griendwas was almost destroyed, only ten houses were left standing. It would be known as The St. Lucia Flood. In England, the same storm had similar devastating effects. It killed hundreds of people in England, mostly in the village of Hickling, Norfolk, where 180 died and the water rose…
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The Unknown Bairn
Nothing strikes a body like the tragic loss of a child. But when that child is never identified nor claimed it seems particularly sad. On 23rd May 1971, local postman John Robertson, ‘Ian the Postie’ was walking along the beach in the small village of Tayport, which butts up to one side of the Tay Estuary facing onto Dundee across the river. He had his young son with him. Up front, he saw something laying still on the sand and on approach found it to be a young boy aged two to four years of age. Sadly the little chap had no signs of life. Examination revealed the boy appeared…
