Oh, The Humanity!

   All the talk so far this year has been about the Titanic disaster in 1912..100 years ago. But 25 years after the Titanic sank, there was another disaster involving a very large passenger vessel. This one didn't sail the seas, and tragedy didn't befall on her maiden voyage. But it did signal the end of an era. That era was passenger airships. It was 75 years ago today, May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg exploded while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey.
   She was truly a giant at 803 feet long (Titanic was 882 feet), 135 feet in diameter, and had a volume for lighter that air gas of more than 7 million cubic feet. She could carry up to 72 passengers and 61 crew, and had a maximum speed of 85 mph. She was also filled with hydrogen gas. Which is highly flammable. Her outer skin, according to some theorists, was painted with aluminum powder and/or iron oxide. Both are fuels used on the Space Shuttle`s external boosters. But the jury's still out on that.
   She was also the pride of Nazi Germany, and flew over the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
   On her final voyage, Hindenburg was carrying 36 passengers and 61 crew. She had just pulled up to the mooring mast when either lightning, a static discharge or (as some have said) a bomb detonated the hydrogen gas, burning her in just 37 seconds and killing a total of 35 people.
   Journalist Herb Morrison of WLS Chicago saw the disaster unfold, and he did in fact say "Oh, the humanity".
   There are several famous photo's of the disaster, including one used by Led Zeppelin on the cover their first album.
   And while not as famous as the Titanic disaster, the Hindenburg tragedy should also be remembered.
   'Nuff said.