Calamity! Podcast

In May, 1915 a German U-boat came across the RMS Lusitania, a luxury passenger ship, about 11 miles off the coast of Ireland making its way to Liverpool. Despite it being a non-military vessel, the U-boat fired a torpedo that sank the ship within 18 minutes.

Not only was Seawise Giant the largest ship to ever sink, but it was the largest ship ever built! So why isn't it as famous as Titanic? Well, this was a crude oil tanker with a crew of only 50. Plus, this mammoth vessel ended up having a surprising Second Act after the sinking - and a decidedly more "happy" one.

An express passenger train leaving Spokane and bound for Seattle ended up stranded on Stevens Pass when freak weather conditions caused a series of avalanches in late February, 1910. Then, after spending nearly a week parked by the small town of Wellington, a large slab avalanche swept the train 150 feet off the track, killing 96 people - the most deadly avalanche in American history.

In April 1995, a plot to bomb a federal building in Oklahoma City became the largest and most deadly domestic act of terrorism in the US. The explosion was far larger than the perpetrators intended, resulting in 168 deaths.

On an otherwise quiet morning in May 1983, an enormous explosion rocked the small town of Benton, Tennessee. The ensuing investigation revealed Webb's Bait Farm was just a front for a lucrative, highly unlawful firework manufacturing business.