This week in American history

Here is what happened this week in American History.

•May 19. On this day in 1950, dockworkers in South Amboy, New Jersey, are loading military munitions from a freight train onto four barges when an explosion occurs shortly before 7:30 pm. The explosion involves over 420 tons of munitions and can be felt 30 miles away. Thirty-one people are killed, though only five bodies are identified, and over 350 people are injured. Twenty-one barges are sunk or damaged, about 2,700 homes and other buildings are destroyed or damaged and the power grid is destroyed. What caused the explosion remains unknown but pieces of munitions are still being found. In 2013, a plaque was placed at the site to commemorate the disaster.

•May 20. Today in 1932, aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland in a Lockheed Vega 5B, flying non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean becoming the first woman to do so. She lands in a pasture in Northern Ireland and history records that a farm hand asked how far she had flown. Earhart’s reply was, “From America.”

•May 21. In 1942, Mexican tanker Faja de Oro is just off the coast of Key West, Florida, when she is attacked and sunk by German submarine U-106. Ten crew members die in the attack while 27 are rescued from the sea. Mexico had declared being neutral in World War II, but this sinking of a Mexican ship – the second in a week – leads Mexico to declare war on Germany. Herman Rasch is captain of the U-106 when Faja de Oro is sunk. Rasch survives the war and dies in 1974. U-106 will be sunk in 1943, falling victim to bombs from an RAF flying boat.

•May 22. On this day in 1915, Lassen Peak or Mount Lassen, located in northern California, erupts. It is one of only two volcanoes in the lower 48 states to erupt in the 20th Century. The eruption spreads ash a distance of 280 miles away. Lassen Peak remains an active volcano and is expected to erupt again.

•May 23. Today in 1939, the US submarine Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire. Twenty-four sailors and two civilians die in the sinking while 32 sailors and a civilian are rescued from the submarine. The sinking was determined to be a failure of an air induction valve. Squalus is raised, repaired and renamed Sailfish. As Sailfish, the submarine enjoys considerable success against the Japanese during World War II and is decommissioned after the war. Her conning tower remains on display at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire.

•May 24. In 1958, when news reporting was still actual new reporting, United Press International is created when United Press and International News Service are merged. Once a very strong news service that rivaled AP, UPI has fallen on difficult financial times and now concentrates on small information-market niches with a staff that is only a shadow of what it once was.

•May 25. On this day in 1738, the Conojocular War comes to an end as a treaty is signed ending a boundary dispute between the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The war had been fought since the early 1730s. The boundary becomes the Mason-Dixon Line in 1767.

HHJ News