One hundred years ago today, 1,358 members of the
Kleindeutschland, the German neighborhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, boarded a chartered ferry named the
General Slocum for a picnic excursion to Long Island. A fire broke out in the ship's hold while it cruised up the East River, the captain ran the vessel aground on the rocky shores of North Brother Island amid the swift currents of
Hell Gate, and when it was all over 1,021 people (mainly women and children) had perished by drowning or from the fire, and it remained the worst single-day New York City disaster until 9/11.
posted by Vidiot
on Jun 15, 2004 -
16 comments
Happy Darwin Day! Darwin Day is February 12th, the date of birth of Charles Darwin in the year 1809, at Shrewsbury, England. On this date, and throughout the month, people from all over the world are honoring the life, work and influence of Charles Darwin with events and activities which celebrate humanity and the science in our lives.
While you're celebrating you may want to see who has won
awards in his name or perhaps
buy a sticker or see if there's a darwinday event
near you
posted by bitdamaged
on Feb 12, 2003 -
15 comments
The Shot Chord Heard Round the World! On the morning of
Nine Eleven 2002 at 8:46am, over 160 choirs across the world will sing
Mozart's "Requiem" to metaphorically stand in for the thousands of voices silenced a year ago. Among all the ideas I've heard to commemorate this occasion, this one seems the most dignified, and least cringeworthy. They mentioned it on
NPR's Morning Edition (caution: Real Audio file).
posted by ZachsMind
on Sep 10, 2002 -
33 comments
