A quiz question · medium
On 6 December 1917 the largest man-made explosion before the atomic bomb destroyed half of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The cause was?
The French munitions ship *Mont-Blanc* collided with the Norwegian relief ship *Imo* in the Narrows of Halifax harbour. *Mont-Blanc* caught fire and exploded twenty minutes later. The blast killed approximately 1,950 people, blinded another 1,000 (mostly from flying glass), and flattened most of the city's North End. The telegraph operator Vince Coleman stayed at his key to warn incoming trains — his message has been preserved. Boston sent a relief train within hours, which is the origin of Nova Scotia's annual Christmas-tree gift to the city of Boston that continues to this day.
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The Telegraph Operator Who Stayed at His Key On 6 December 1917, Vince Coleman had ninety seconds to warn the incoming trains. He used them, and then he was gone.
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