The 1916 Explosion That Closed the Statue of Liberty's Torch

Black Tom was a rail and shipping terminal built on reclaimed land in New York Harbor, close to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. In the summer of 1916, while the United States remained neutral in the First World War, American factories were shipping munitions to the Allies. An explosion at the terminal was felt as far away as Philadelphia and left a crater roughly 375 by 175 feet, destroying thirteen warehouses and six piers. Four deaths are generally confirmed, including a ten-week-old infant, and more than a hundred people were injured. A joint American-German commission ultimately found Germany liable for the destruction in a ruling issued in 1939, more than two decades after the blast. Some images are period photographs or illustrations of the places in this story and do not depict the exact moments described. This channel uses AI-assisted narration to help tell these stories, alongside real archival photographs and documented sources wherever possible. Image credits (Wikimedia Commons): "Hansa Haus (49032120592)" by Paul Sableman from St. Louis, MO, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons "Former torch of the Statue of Liberty in the Statue of Liberty Museum, NYC, 20231003 1456 1953" by Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Sources: UN RIAA Vol. VIII (legal.un.org) NPS (nps.gov) US Deadly Events (usdeadlyevents.com) Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) CFR (cfr.org) James O. Castagnera (historynewsnetwork.org) Jus Mundi (jusmundi.com) Smithsonian (smithsonianmag.com) Untapped Cities (untappedcities.com) Historic Mysteries (historicmysteries.com) and 76 further published sources #History #BlackTom #TrueCrime