Alfred Nobel patented his newfangled invention—dynamite—in 1867. Since then, the explosive material has been behind countless catastrophes, and today we’ll count down ten of the most harrowing tragedies caused by dynamite.
Tragedies Caused by Dynamite: A Grim Overview
10 Bellevue, Pennsylvania
In November 1882, coal miner Mr. Forsythe bought several sticks of dynamite for blast‑fishing. The cold snap froze the sticks, and, unaware of how lethal the material could be, he set the frozen explosives beside a lit kitchen stove to thaw them. Afterward he headed to work, only to learn later that his home had blown apart. The stove turned into a shrapnel storm, ripping through the back of the house. His eight‑year‑old son lost a leg at the knee and suffered catastrophic torso injuries. His wife endured more than thirty shrapnel wounds, and his other two children were mortally injured.
9 Baltimore, Maryland
March 1913 saw a maritime nightmare in Baltimore Harbor when 340 tons of dynamite being transferred from a barge to the British steamer Alum Chine detonated without warning. The blast killed 50 transport workers and injured 75 others, its shockwave felt as far away as the Philadelphia Naval Yard and three neighboring states. A second explosion ripped two more ships apart, and a rain of burning steel and unexploded dynamite rained down within a 400‑meter radius. The foreman, Bomhart, was accused of negligence and arrested, though his ultimate fate remains unclear.
8 Valparaiso, Chile
On New Year’s Day 1953, a mischievous boy tossed a lit firecracker into a government warehouse stocked with blasting powder and roughly ten tons of dynamite. The resulting explosion nearly flattened an entire city block and ripped apart the waterfront. Three nearby fire stations were destroyed, and many of the dead were volunteer firefighters. As crowds gathered to watch the blaze, panic spread when the fire surged toward the spectators, leading to a deadly stampede. A concurrent bus strike hampered medical response, and the death toll climbed to at least 47 with more than 350 injured.
7 Bolivia, North Carolina
Before modern airline terror threats, there were suicide bombers. On January 3, 1960, a National Airlines DC‑6B bound for Miami exploded over Bolivia, North Carolina, killing all 34 passengers, including Julian Andrew Frank. Investigators discovered Frank had recently faced financial and legal troubles and had purchased a million dollars in life‑insurance policies. Evidence showed he had slipped into the aircraft’s restroom, rigged a dynamite bomb with a dry‑cell battery, and set it off, hoping to make his death look accidental so his wife could collect the payout.
6 Saigon, Vietnam
In August 1965, during the Vietnam War, a terrorist duo drove a car packed with dynamite into the wall of Saigon’s special police headquarters. The blast killed four policemen and wounded 17 others, including four Americans. The attackers leapt clear before the impact, then opened fire with machine guns as a second vehicle arrived. One terrorist fell in the ensuing gunfight; the others fled. U.S. officials blamed the Viet‑cong, while Vietnamese investigators pointed to supporters of the late Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao seeking revenge.
5 Jersey City, New Jersey
February 1911 turned the Jersey Central Railway Pier into a demolition site when twenty tons of dynamite being shifted from rail cars to a boat detonated spontaneously. The explosion obliterated the boat and two neighboring vessels, and its shockwave was felt up to ten miles away. The pier, packed with freight from steel mills, turned into deadly shrapnel, injuring over a hundred workers. Glass shattered in New York City, and windows on Ellis Island and Governors Island were blown out. In total, 20 people died and hundreds were wounded.
4 Melrose, Massachusetts
September 1904 saw a trolley car returning passengers from Boston strike a 50‑lb box of dynamite that had mysteriously fallen onto the tracks. The blast hurled pedestrians up to 30 meters away, shattered windows, and killed ten people—including a child—while severely wounding 17 more. Rescuers later discovered the box had slipped off the back of a wagon; by the time the driver realized the loss, the explosion had already claimed its victims.
3 Santander, Spain
In November 1893, a steamer loaded with over 500 cases of dynamite caught fire in Santander’s harbor. As a man‑of‑war attempted to combat the flames, the fire reached the cargo hold, triggering a massive explosion that destroyed both vessels, their crews, the entire quay, and the crowds gathered there. The blast instantly killed 300 people, including most of the local police force, and is estimated to have caused up to 500 deaths overall, with hundreds more injured. The surrounding waterfront and nearby buildings were reduced to rubble.
2 Tultenango, Mexico
March 1936 brought disaster to a railroad station 125 miles northwest of Mexico City when a coal car caught fire, broke loose, and rolled into a freight car loaded with dynamite. The impact set off a colossal explosion that shredded the coal car, the dynamite car, and extensive sections of track. A nearby water tank, ten other freight cars, the station itself, and many village houses were heavily damaged. The blast killed 30 people outright and wounded about 60, most of them railroad workers or local residents. Mutilated remains and body parts were found hundreds of meters from the epicenter.
1 Georgian Bay, Ontario
In August 1938, 21‑year‑old playboy Daniel George Dodge—heir to the Dodge Motor Company fortune—decided to impress his new wife, Lorraine, by playing with dynamite at his lakeside lodge. After lighting sticks and tossing them out the window for fun, a stray stick struck a sill, bounced back, and landed on a pile of blasting caps. The ensuing explosion injured everyone present, including a camp caretaker and his wife. While the group scrambled for help in a speedboat, Dodge fell overboard and drowned. Although rumors swirled about foul play, Lorraine faced no charges and later inherited the lodge and a generous estate.