History of the Texas City Disaster

On April 16, 1947 at around 8am people noticed a red glow from the ship Grandcamp which was docked in the Port of Texas City in Texas City, Texas.  The Grandcamp was originally called the SS Benjamin R. Curtis, named for the American attorney and US Supreme Court Justice.  It went into service in 1942 and served in World War II.  After the war the ship was decommissioned.  In a cold war, gesture the ship was given to the French Line, a shipping company established during 1861 as an attempt to revive the French merchant marine.

The ship’s cargo was Ammonium nitrate, a chemical frequently used as fertilizer.  I spread some on my lawn this weekend actually.  It is also used as an ingredient in explosives. Ammonium nitrate is a very common cargo.

About 600 feet away the High Flyer was was docked.  Its cargo also consisted of ammonium nitrate.  961 tons of it.  Not to mention 1,800 tons of sulfur.  To make all this worse, the two ships were adjacent to a warehouse which stored more fertilizer.  All of this was on its way to farmers in Europe.

At 8am the red glow from the cargo hold on the Grandcamp was noticed and they began to try to put out the fire.  All attempts failed.

Just before 9am the captain ordered the hold steamed.  A common method used to try to put out the fire while not damaging the cargo.  The hold began to expand because of the pressure from the steam.  Meanwhile, crowds began to gather at what they thought was a safe distance.  They noted to each other that the water around the ship was boiling.  And when water splashed up against the hull it immediately turned to steam and evaporated.

At 9:12 am the cargo detonated.  Sending a massive 15 foot wave out into the ocean from the port.  The blast leveled almost 100 buildings on the shore.  The explosion destroyed the Monsanto Chemical Company plant on shore and it also ignited refineries and chemical tanks on the waterfront.  It was a gigantic explosion, which hurled the Grandcamps anchor 1.6 miles into the city.  Creating a 10 foot deep crater.  The blast shored off the wings of a sightseeing plane flying overhead and launched bales of flaming twine from the Grandcamps deck into the air.

10 miles from the explosion people in Galveston, Texas were thrown to their knees from the blast and in Houston, Texas, 40 miles from the explosion windows were shattered.  The blast was felt as far as Louisiana, 100 miles from the blast.  The grandcamp ship did not fair well either.  Most of its 6,350 tons of steel were blown into the air with its cargo.  Some at supersonic speeds.  All of the crew that were aboard the Grandcamp died and many of those around the ship were either blown instantly to bits or burned alive.  The official death toll was 567, which is believed to be underestimated. All but one of the Texas City volunteer firefighters, who were fighting the fire survived the explosion.

The High Flyer’s cargo was set afire from the blast on the Grandcamp and after 15 hours of fighting that fire and trying to move the ship away unsuccessfully, the High Flyer also exploded.  That explosion killed two more and completely demolished the SS Wilson B. Keene docked nearby.  One of the High Flyer’s propellers was blown a mile inland.  It is now part of a memorial park, and sits near the anchor of the Grandcamp. The propeller is cracked in several places, and one of the blades has a large piece missing from it, a mute testament to the destruction that took place that day.

This disaster is widely considered to be the worst industrial accident in US history.  The estimated property damage in 1947 dollars was 100 million, which in current dollars would equate to around 1.04 billion.  It is believed that there were at least 468 deaths and 5,000 injured.  Around 2,000 people were left homeless.

Hundreds of lawsuits were filed in the aftermath of the disaster under the recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).  On April 13, 1950, the district court found the United States responsible for a litany of negligent acts of omission and commission by 168 named agencies and their representatives in the manufacture, packaging, and labeling of ammonium nitrate, further compounded by errors in transport, storage, loading, fire prevention, and fire suppression, all of which led to the explosions.

On June 10, 1952, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this decision, finding that the United States maintained the right to exercise its own “discretion” in vital national matters.  On June 8, 1953, the US Supreme Court upheld that decision.

Books to learn more:

• City on Fire : The Forgotten Disaster That Devastated a Town and Ignited a Landmark Legal Battle
• The Texas City Disaster, 1947
• Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Disaster

History of the Thirty Years War

We finally have another podcast out!  You voted for it!  We finally have a winner.  17 of you voted 4 of those votes were for the Thirty Years War.  So here it is.  I hope you all enjoy it.  One of Eric K.’s request can finally been crossed out.  I hope you all enjoy this podcast and more importantly learn something from it.  Above is a picture of Wallenstein’s Palace.

Below are some of the related links:

• Nathan Barber’s website – http://apeuro.nathanbarber.com/StudyAids/studyaids.html
• The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy
• Eyewitness Accounts of the Thirty Years War 1618-48

Background

Some background about what was happening in Germany around the time of the 30 years war. In 1415, Jan (pronounced “yawn”) Hus was burned at the stake for heresy. For refusing to believe in a religion he did not agree with. Bohemia a province or state in Germany is where most of this was happening. It was a tough place to be no matter what religion you where. The only thing that these people of different religions agreed on was that they all hated each other.

At this time Germany was not a county, just a geographic location. It was a group of over 300 principalities and each one was ruled by an independent prince. They had sovereignty (a government free from external control). The beginning of the thirty years war would start in Bohemia. By 1600, there were more Protestants than Catholics in Bohemia. The protestant were divided into different denominations or sects. The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 officially recognized two religions in Germany, Catholicism and Lutheranism. But they forgot one and it was beginning to be a big one, Calvinism.

Lots of the princes of the 300 provinces that made up Germany started switch- ing to Calvinism. This is a problem because Calvinism was not recognized in the Peace of Augsburg, so technically this was outside the law.

Emperor Rudolph II issued a Letter
of Majesty that said you could be a protestant but not too much. In other words, you could practice the religion if you didn’t cause any problems. And if there is not already a protestant church in your town you’re not al- lowed to build one.

Ferdinand is going to be the new king of Bohemia and he is very Catholic and very militant.

The Defenestration of Prague

Defenestration is from the Latin of “out the window”. Defenestration is the act of throwing someone out a window, no kidding.

The face that Ferdinand was so catholic freaked the Protestants out. So they sent letters and requested a meeting. On May 23, 1618 some Protestants meet with two catholic officials in Prague. The meeting did not go well. The Protestants were pissed so they threw both officials out the window. And just to make their point they threw the secretary out too. The guys threw out the window lived.

Why depends on your religious views. If you were a catholic it’s because they cried out to God for help and God caught them and set them down gently on the ground. If you were protestant those guys were just lucky because they landed in a dung heap and it broke their fall. This event is largely considered to be the spark that ignited the thirty years war. This has got to be one of the strangest events in European history.

The Four Phases

• The Bohemian Phase
• The Danish Phase
• The Swedish Phase
• The French Phase

The Bohemian Phase (1618 – 1625)

Right after the defenestration of Prague the fighting begins between the Catho- lics and Protestants. The Protestants were mostly Czechs which makes sense since most of them were in Prague. They rose up and forced Ferdinand to leave office. To replace Ferdinand the chose Frederick V. Ferdinand was the Holy Roman Emperor and used money from the Catholic League and the Spanish Hapsburgs to build an army. The catholic league was a group of catholic princes who pooled their money and armies to oppose the spread of Protestantism in Germany. The Hapsburgs were one of the most influential ruling families in all of European history. They ruled Austria. At this point they had control over the Holy Roman Empire. They also had rulers on the throne in Spain.

The Hapsburgs will be a major player in the thirty years war. Ferdinand with his huge army begins the war. Things start off well for the Protestants until the battle of White Mountain, where the Protestants are crushed. Things looked bad for the Protestants after this. After White Mountain the Jesuits (Catholic Church members) went about trying to convert those Protestants that didn’t want to fight. The catholic forces took care of the Protestants on the battle field while the Jesuits worked away on the Protestants that were not on the battlefield.

The thirty years war was the first great conflict in which the printing press had free rein, and events both major and minor are widely reported in contemporary newspapers, pamphlets and broadsheets, often providing graphic depictions in which sensationalism and pro- paganda are barely distinguishable… Mortimer, Geoff

However, this tactic did not have the intended effect. The crushing defeat actually inspired the Protestants. As the war continued mercenaries flooded in to get in on all this fighting. As Machiavelli said in The Prince, don’t trust mercenaries. Their loyalty lies in how much they are paid not in who wins. If these mercenaries knew that the problems they would have getting paid they may not have both- ered. For every year that they fought they might get paid for only 3 of those 12 months. In 1633 the Swedish army actually went on strike for 3 months, refusing the engage the enemy until they were paid.

All the soldiers regardless of what side of the battle they were on had a hard time keeping shoes on their feet and food in the stomachs. The compensated by looting, but also sometimes whipped or even shot for stealing by officers. The officers had it no better than they though.

Albrecht von Wallenstein was born a Czech protestant, but was also a mercenary and offered his services and his 125,000 soldiers to the Emperor
(the Catholics). The emperor accepted. Wallenstein was ruthless and blood thirsty. All in all a very bad guy. He and his army raped, pillaged, burned and plundered each village and town. This was bad for everyone. The way that Wallenstein fought made the emperor look bad. Of course it was bad for the Protestants, because they were being wiped out by one of their own. It was bad for Germany because the place was being devastated. It was clear to everyone that the Emperor had lost control of Wallenstein.

During the fighting in Bohemia the Spanish Hapsburgs attacked the holdings of Frederick along the Rhine River. Frederick had his hands full fighting the emperor and was unable to win back his land along the Rhine.

Danish Phase (1625 – 1630)

The Hapsburgs enemies were horrified at what Wallenstein was doing. King Christian IV of Denmark enters the war on the side of the Protestants. Christian’s goal was to turn the tide of the war and help the Protestants win, but Wallenstein and his men where too much for him.

The emperor issued the Edict of Restitution in 1629. The Edict outlawed all forms of religion, but Catholicism and Lutheranism. Reaffirming the Peace of Augsburg. But it was different from the Peace of Augsburg in the fact that all of the Lutheran princes who had taken Catholic land during the reformation had to give it back.

By 1630 the Hapsburg family were at the zenith of their power. The war was going the way they wanted it to. They seemed well on their way to controlling Germany. They had Spain under control with the Hapsburgs they had there. Wallenstein was now scaring everyone. He was getting too powerful. The emperor started feeling a lot of pressure of reign in Wallenstein. So, the emperor gives into the pressure and pulls Wallenstein back. In doing so he puts an end to the atrocities that Wallenstein was committing.

The Swedish Phase (1630 – 1635)

Another protestant enters the ring. This time king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden enters with a 100,000 man army. Adolphus wanted the Protestants to win, but he also wanted some more land (alternative motives). The French, who were Catholics, subsidized the Swedish army. The catholic French are now supporting a protestant army. They wanted to undermine the Hapsburgs. Adolphus was having some success so the emperor was forced to bring back Wallenstein. Adolphus was injured in battle and shortly thereafter died in 1632. Without Adolphus things looked bad and by 1634 the Swedes were pretty much defeated.

The French Phase (1635 – 1648)

Wallenstein was pissed at the Emperor for his earlier dismissal and decided to turn on the emperor and create his own empire. Again, Machiavelli called it. Don’t trust mercenaries. The emperor finally gets it and figures out that Wallenstein’s troops can be bought. So that’s what he does and he has the troops murder Wallenstein.

At this point it looked like the emperor was going to win so some of the protestant princes joined the emperor. France was getting even more nervous now. They found themselves right between Hapsburg controlled Spain and Hapsburg controlled Germany. France goes for it and enters completely into the war, no longer just subsidizing other armies.
King Christian of Denmark was really the only person who had a standing army. He was viewed as an innovator for this. It wasn’t that large but it was a paid professional army as we think of them today. These guys were real soldiers for a living instead of farmers with no formal training, like most other armies.

The armies involved in the struggles of the 30 years war were so evenly matched that the fighting would go on and on until 1643. Everyone was exhausted at this point. So the fighting kind of petered out. There were some small skirmishes here and there after this but for the most part it was over. Finally in 1648 everybody meets at the bargaining table and starts to sign treaties. This meeting was known as the Peace of Westphalia. It is one of the most significant documents in all of European history. Because if ended the 30 years war. It is actually a number of treaties. The peace recognized the sovereignty (government free from external control) of over 300 German princes. The peace also excluded the pope. He had nothing to do with the settlement. It made him almost irrelevant. The peace said the pope would not be able to meddle in the religious affairs of the provinces. The peace upheld the Peace of Augsburg with the addition of Calvinism. The peace also nullified the Edict of Restitution.

Results of 30 Years War

The German princes could choose their own religion, as long as it was one of the big three. The northern principalities remained primarily protestant while the southern principalities remained mainly Catholic. It is still that way today. The United Provinces and Switzerland both won recognition as independent states. Today we know the United Provinces as the Netherlands. This is where the Netherlands won their independence from Spain. German princes won the right to form alliances and sign treaties as long as they didn’t declare war against the Holy Roman Empire. How the Holy Roman Empire was going to enforce this is beyond me. Sweden won a lot of money and became the dominate power in the Baltic with more land there. France won the region of Alsace (pronounced “all sauce”).

Political Fallout

Spain loses territory and France gained it. France is now the most powerful nation on the continent. France also benefited from the weakening of the Holy Roman Empire and the Hapsburg family influence. The Political power of the Holy Roman Empire pretty much dies here. The Hapsburg family stays strong because remember the war didn’t cause them anything. It was the Spanish Hapsburgs and the catholic league that paid for it. The Hapsburgs would go on to rule the Austro-Hungarian Empire later.

Aftermath in Germany

German homes, businesses and farms were destroyed during the thirty years of the war. Lots of it by Wallenstein. German population was reduced by a third by some estimates. That’s 4 or 5 million over the course of the war. Many from battle but also some from diseases and starvation. For those that survived the war there were huge food shortages. With the food shortages came increased prices for the rare food which caused a terrible inflation. There was also a large influx of money into Spain from the new world. This impacted all of Europe, devaluing money for the whole region. All this happened at the same time. Trade routes pretty much were gone. No one wanted to travel a trade route that went right through a war, and that lasted for 30 years, no one on trade routes for 30 years! After the war there was nothing to trade for, Wallenstein had destroyed every- thing and there was a food shortage and high prices. Why would you go to Germany to trade? The one single small good thing was that some cities actually grew in population; this was because of war refuges coming to the safer walled or otherwise protected cities.

I hope you all enjoy this first video podcast.  I know the volume is low, I’m looking into how to correct that for the next episode, please leave any suggestions in the comments section.

More information:
The Other Boleyn Girl
Henry VIII of England – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII
The Wives of Henry VIII
The Boleyn Inheritance
The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn

This podcast episode was written by Fiona Skepper.  Fiona sent the script to me and I read it.  We both hope you enjoyed this episode.

Update:  I should have let you know that the winner of the 5.5 million race this year was a long shot by a nose called “Viewed.”

We are finally back with another episode of history podcast.  Enjoy!  Thank you for staying subscribed.

Links discussed in this episode:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_of_Jamestown

Learn more:

• The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History
• Pocahontas: The Life And The Legend

This episode is a request from possibly our youngest listener. Eric who is 10 years old.  Eric has diabetes type one and wants to know more about the history of diabetes especially type one.

Sources:
The History of Diabetes, http://www.diabetes.ca/Section_About/timeline.asp
Diabetes History, http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-history.html
Wikipedia: Diabetes mellitus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes

Not a source but a useful site: http://www.diabeticdays.com/

Thank you Drew M. from Orlando, Florida for this request.

Random Superman facts:

According to an interview with Joe Shuster shortly before his death, the name “Clark Kent” was chosen as a combination of the names of two movie stars, Clark Gable and Kent Taylor

In the words of Warner Bros. President Alan F. Horn, “I thought Superman Returns (2006) was a very successful movie, but I think it should have done $500 million worldwide. We should have had perhaps a little more action to satisfy the young male crowd.” $175 million is the maximum budget the studio is aiming for Superman: Man of Steel. from IMDB.

I originally missed this email when researching for this podcast but Stephanie S. sent me a great link to a little video.

Episode Sources:

The encyclopedia of superheroes on film and television
Muir, John Kenneth, 1969- REF 791.43652 MUIR J

Additional Links:

Watch a public domain Superman cartoon here.

• History of the “S” symbol: http://www.metropolisplus.com/Superman/
• http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/superman/history.html
• http://www.vex.net/~dq711/superman.htm

Superman beware, kryptonite is real:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2007/april/news_11392.html

Superman at fifty : the persistence of a legend
Engle, Gary D., 1947- 741.50973

This is a guest podcast from Michelle all about the aqueducts in Rome.  I hope you enjoy it.  Please leave your comments at the bottom of this post.  Thank you.

This is a request from Andrew Turnier. I hope you enjoy listening to this podcast. Much more to this post. Click on the more link below…

YouTube Videos:

Books:

Cloe, John Haile (1990). The Aleutian Warriors: A History of the 11th Air Force and Fleet Air Wing 4. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. and Anchorage Chapter – Air Force Association. ISBN 0929521358. OCLC 25370916. – The Aleutian Warriors: A History of the 11th Air Force & Fleet Air Wing 4/Part 1

Dickrell, Jeff (2001). Center of the Storm: The Bombing of Dutch Harbor and the Experience of Patrol Wing Four in the Aleutians, Summer 1942. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., Inc.. ISBN 1575100924. OCLC 50242148. – Center of the Storm: The Bombing of Dutch Harbor and the Experience of Patrol Wing Four in the Aleutians, Summer 1942

Feinberg, Leonard (1992). Where the Williwaw Blows: The Aleutian Islands-World War II. Pilgrims’ Process. ISBN 0971060983. OCLC 57146667. – Where the Williwaw Blows: The Aleutian Islands-World War II

Garfield, Brian [1969] (1995). The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press. ISBN 0912006838. OCLC 33358488. – Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians (Classic Reprint Series (Fairbanks, Alaska), No. 4.)

Goldstein, Donald M.; Katherine V. Dillon (1992). The Williwaw War: The Arkansas National Guard in the Aleutians in World War. Fayettville: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1557282420. OCLC 24912734. – The Williwaw War: The Arkansas National Guard in the Aleutians in World War II

Hays, Otis (2004). Alaska’s Hidden Wars: Secret Campaigns on the North Pacific Rim. University of Alaska Press. ISBN 188996364X. – Alaska’s Hidden Wars: Secret Campaigns on the North Pacific Rim

Lorelli, John A. (1984). The Battle of the Komandorski Islands. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0870210939. OCLC 10824413. – The Battle of the Komandorski Islands, March 1943

Morison, Samuel Eliot [1951] (2001). Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, vol. 7 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0316583057. OCLC 7288530. – Struggle for Guadalcanal: August 1942 – February 1943 – Volume 5 (Struggle for Guadalcanal, August, 1942-February, 1943)

Parshall, Jonathan; Tully, Anthony (2005). Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books. ISBN 1574889230. OCLC 60373935. – Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

Perras, Galen Roger (2003). Stepping Stones to Nowhere, The Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and American Military Strategy, 1867 – 1945. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 1591148367. OCLC 53015264. – Stepping Stones to Nowhere: The Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and American Military Strategy, 1867-1945

Urwin, Gregory J. W. (2000). The Capture of Attu: A World War II Battle as Told by the Men Who Fought There. Bison Books. ISBN 080329557X. – The Capture of Attu: A World War II Battle as Told by the Men Who Fought There

Wetterhahn, Ralph (2004). The Last Flight of Bomber 31: Harrowing Tales of American and Japanese Pilots Who Fought World War II’s Arctic Air Campaign. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0786713607. – The Last Flight of Bomber 31: Harrowing Tales of American and Japanese Pilots Who Fought World War II’s Arctic Air Campaign

Related Links:

• 7th Infantry Division
• Devil’s Brigade
• 6th Canadian Infantry Division
• Battle of the Pips
• Kuriles
• Paramushiro
• First Special Service Force
• Charlton Heston

Another great episode script submitted by Fiona Skepper. It took me a long time to get this one out, but here it is. I hope you all enjoy it. Please leave your comments in this posting.

More information about Cleopatra…

Cleopatra – the Last Pharaoh – Prudence J. Jones – Haus Publishing London 2006
Nefertiti and Cleopatra: Queen-Monarchs of Ancient Egypt
Cleopatra VII – http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cleopatra_VII

Apr. 1, 2008 – Cleopatra’s Suicide by Snake a Myth? – Read the article at Discovery News