The Great Porcupine Fire
On July 11, 1911, a major devastation to the people of Porcupine made its way into history. The small community was on its regular routine nothing unusual, but nearly 70 people were killed in a day due to a fire. Its flames reaching up to about 100 ft.(30 meters) which formed into the shape of a horseshoe. After it was over 494,000 acres of land and forest were spoiled, The worst part was probably when people fled. Back at that time there were many mines, during the destruction miners could not escape so they suffocated while others ran to the porcupine lake and drown. At their railroad station a car full of dynamite came in contact with the flames exploded causing the lake to erupt in flames 9 feet high.
The Millionaire's Special
On April 10,1912 one of the largest ships at the time, set sail. It was called the unsinkable by many, eventually people found out the truth. Not three days into the voyage iceberg warnings were given, but the ship with no hindrance, maintained a steady speed of 22 knots. A warning was sent that the ship was approaching an iceberg, unfortunately the titanic never received the notice. In the dark it traveled along until the crow's nest spotted an iceberg the titanic attempted to turn but it was too late. Many passengers(possibly all) felt the collision, but no one thought anything about it until the directors started telling the them to put on their life vests. On the deck children played with the ice acting as if it were a game, but during the night only 700 of them would survive. On Sunday April 14 the titanic sank to the very depths of the Atlantic Ocean. It carried 2,200 passengers, including a crew, 1,500 of those individuals did not survive. the disaster of men women and children from 7 mouths and 7 days to about 66.
Novarupta
In June of 1912 Alaska experienced the eruption of Novarupta. It was the deadliest and biggest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, and wasted over 5 cubic miles of land. It is said the eruption was 10 times more powerful than that of Mt. St. Helens, and it took 60 hours for it to finish. The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes was filled in by magma and not to mention it forged the down fall of the Mount Katmai volcano. It lasted from June 6 to June 9, leaving its evidence behind in a thousand mile long cloud of ash. Cities and building were completely destroyed from the mountains of ash and rebel. In 1916 what was once Mt. Katmai was found a 2 mile- wide crater, and the site of the volcano was discovered a lava dome. One hour after it occurred the blast was heard in Juneau, Alaska, just 750 miles from the site.
The Lusitania Disaster
She left New York, headed for Liverpool, with about 2,150 men, women, and children on board. Nobody knew what would await the British cruise liner when she left port, but it was soon discovered. This tragic event took place when a German(U-boat) saw her as a threat because she was British and launched a torpedo, she sank about 14 miles off the coast of Southern Ireland. Although the Germans say they fired only one torpedo, there were two explosions, many believe the second was from coal dust or hidden ammunition in the cargo hold. After the accident 1,195 were found dead, including 123 Americans, only a few survived.
Killer Flu of 1918
Many would think that World War 1 was the most tragic event from 1910 to 1919, that's not exactly true. In WW1 8,000,000 people were killed, but the Spanish flu sent from 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 people to their deaths( nearly 3% of the world's population) and 675,000 Americans. From June 1917 to December 1920 the bird flu spread across the world, starting probably in Europe Or the Far East. A theory is when a few soldiers burned some manure it spread through them to others as they traveled for the war, but nobody really knows the truth. Its main target was 20 to 50 year olds, not young or old people. They would feel fine for a moment and then it would take their lives, coming and going unexpectedly. It was found in North America, Brazil, the South Pacific, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
1917-1920
During that time a poem was repeated by a few children which caught the attention of many:
I had a little bird,
Its name was Enza.
I opened the window,
And in-flu-enza.
I had a little bird,
Its name was Enza.
I opened the window,
And in-flu-enza.