The Halifax Explosion

Death and destruction were reported daily from the battlefields of WWI, but no one expected the largest man-made explosion before Hiroshima to occur in North America. It was in Halifax Harbour on December 6, 1917, that the French ship, the Mont Blanc, dangerously overloaded with explosives, and the Belgian ship, the Imo, travelling too fast in the narrows, collided with devastating results. Over 1600 people perished and 9000 were injured as the north end of Halifax was flattened.