How Greed Caused The Worst Flood In American History: Johnstown

[@historyofeverythingpodcast]

Thank you to world of warships for sponsoring this video. Get out of the bath and join the fight using code bravo wo.ws/3MWp0pX

[@bonefetcherbrimley7740]

Thanks for the video! I look forward to watching it. Are you getting enough sleep yet? I heard rumblings in the comments you were a bit sleep deprived, so I hope all is well.

[@skilledwarman]

Thoughts on submarines in game?

[@MonkeyJedi99]

What a creative way to get your wife to tell you to go play computer games!

[@DakotaBroskie]

The guy wailing the whistle on a train as a giant flood chases him has to be the most bad ass story I've heard today

[@musewolfman]

My town has a story that happened in the 1920s, where an old mansion on the outskirts of town caught fire at night, but it was so far back in the woods that the only person who could see it was the engineer of the train that passed by. He did the same thing, tied off the whistle and thundered into town. Woke everyone up, but they managed to fit fire crews out there and while the building was lost, it prevented what could've turned into a massive forest fire.

[@tizi087]

*insert the elder from "das boot" scraming.* "FASTER FASTER!"

[@DakotaBroskie]

@@tizi087 homie hit the "Multi Tracku Drifting"

[@HighwayHistorian]

He didn't mention it in the video, but Gertrude Quinn's rescuer, Maxwell McAchren, lived to tell his tale and became one of the flood’s bona fide heroes. For years afterward, Gertrude’s father took special pleasure in having Maxwell drop by each Fourth of July to elaborate on his deed.

[@TheIrishwhiskey]

Thank you.

[@josephpatterson4042]

A side note here in Pennsylvania we are still paying a Johnstown Flood Tax. This “temporary” tax was enacted to help victims of the flood. following prohibition, it was a 10 percent tax on liquor. It raised $42 million to help rebuild the damaged town by 1942. Then, lawmakers made the tax permanent, nine years after it accomplished its goal. Within two decades, they had also raised it twice, leading it to reach its current level of 18 percent. that tax is still around, now called the “state liquor tax.” It’s now 18 percent and charged on liquor sold in state-run stores. Funds raised from the tax do not go to disaster recovery efforts they are funneled into Pennsylvania’s general fund.😐

[@mattpolinsky4234]

Man I love my states politicians or really just politicians in general. I believe Milton Friedman is the one who said “nothing is so permanent as a temporary government measure”

[@natalieb.1254]

Was it made permanent around the same time Andrew Mellon sold off Old Overholt Distillery? And is there any record to show any of that allocated tax fund to go towards the other floods in the decades after? Like in 1977.

[@Vo1kfang]

As a Johnstown native, I'm glad to see someone talk about this. Also, anyone is welcome to visit. You can walk nearly the whole path of the 1889 flood. There's a trail that goes nearly from breast of the South Fork Dam following the path of the river all the way to the Stone Bridge in town.

[@lordjosh286]

Fellow Johnstown native here but its great to see someone cover this! I have mentioned this to friends online from out of state and they have no clue

[@FuckFistingAss7osuFF7osu]

dont forget the cool lift thing, i've been on the lift like 3 times

[@powerlocalmedia5130]

No thanks.

[@Vo1kfang]

@FuckFistingAss7osuFF7osu the Johnstown Inclined Plane is the steepest vehicular inclined plane in the world at a grade of 70.9%. Very impressive attraction especially in the summer.

[@nathanbopp6163]

Open to bikes, as well

[@nicholaskovach2072]

Having gone from basically being raised in the flood museum, while my Mom worked for the historic commission… to the world beyond Johnstown, it always fascinates me how few people ever learn or know anything about the flood. Thank you for covering it. The story as it was taught for many years was that the pipes were removed due to the stocking of fish in the lake, which was also why the fish screen was placed, and they also allegedly had undercut the dam as well while deepening it for the fish. Also my ancestors in Woodvale were among those that were saved by John Hess.

[@swankshire6939]

I'm my highschool in the Midwest in the early 2000s we were taught about Johnstown. We didn't go fully into the stories of the survivors but even still we knew it was horrible

[@MaryLuCrafts]

As I listen to this, I am reminded of Mr. Roger's address after 9/11: Look for the helpers. It's amazing what the people who were helping were able to do.

[@davidcrossgrove5041]

I visited Johnstown last year and the flood museum is well worth a visit. The whole story is a warning to anyone in the engineering and land development fields, stressing the importance of all the storm water details we have in place. As a surveyor before I had visited Johnstown I thought the hundredths of a foot details and removal of seemingly extra pipes were excessive. Needless to say… it’s not. Take warning engineers, surveyors and all others related to this field. Lives are at stake.

[@braith117]

Safety regulations are written in blood. It's sad that incidents like this are the sort of thing that necessitates regulation.

[@Chokah]

And so many people who's own lives may very well depend on those regulations, stand with the same type that cause such disasters.

[@gamingforever9121]

@@Chokahthose people are based your cringe 😬.

[@historyofeverythingpodcast]

In my rush to get things recorded prior to leaving on my trip to Germany I truly messed up some aspects of pronunciation. Even messing up something as viaduct for vladuct. That is on me, as you can likely tell I have not rested enough here the last couple weeks. Apologies all around my friends

[@iciclecold2991]

Get some proper rest, silly goose. We like you a lot, and don't like to hear you run yourself ragged. Take care of yourself.

[@sirnukesalot24]

Please pin this comment. I really needed to see this before dropping a comment to the same effect. I can delete it now.

[@Hailfire97]

​@@sirnukesalot24 I honestly just did the same thing. It's a great story, I just don't want my guy getting actually made fun of

[@jamesanderson8219]

I was wondering what a vladict is.

[@mitchellseibel2859]

All right, whichever one of you came up with the idea for that sponsor content. Thank you. Keep it up.

[@geoffreyentwistle8176]

I lost it at the explanation for the unicorn. 😂

[@edmundthespiffing2920]

His frown at the end is just precious ​@@geoffreyentwistle8176

[@samwildstein2092]

The Pennsylvania steel mills also gave us a great way to cook a steak. "Pittsburg rare" is a steak cooked quickly on a very high heat (originally by workers slapping the meat onto machinery for a quick lunch) resulting in a charred crust around a rare piece of meat. Some people adore it so give it a try!

[@downskated]

The sad part about the Johnstown Flood is I have to ask which one are you talking about? It's kind of sad it's happened more than once.

[@nathanbopp6163]

The dam only broke once. That's the great flood everyone knows about.

[@downskated]

@nathanbopp6163 No, only one dam broke in 1889, but 6 broke in 1977, so we call it "Johnstown Flood of 1889", or "Johnstown Flood of 1977" for that reason, because there have been 2 great floods. The difference was the ability to communicate and evacuate...

[@downskated]

@@nathanbopp6163 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_flood_of_1977

[@downskated]

@@nathanbopp6163 it goes to show that you can learn from history

[@nathanbopp6163]

@@downskated 3 floods. One in '36 was pretty bad. But only one has a museum.

[@slashseeker]

Here at the beginning of this video just as Milton is looming for the south and following Helene's own strike on the states.

[@Sundowner679]

I live maybe 30 minutes from Johnstown, glad to see someone cares.

[@PlasticBuddha88]

Thank you for this, and for sharing the link to flood relief. My best friend and her family survived Helene only to evacuate to family in Florida and get caught in the middle of Milton. Communities need all the help they can get.

[@thefinesthobbo4524]

The most generous gift in life is self sacrifice. The most honest action one can show is compassion. Never be the person who looks on as tragedy occurs, or offers nothing to those who have suffered in ways you cannot imagine

[@nathanindarsingh5252]

Mother nature vs the hubris of mankind. I live 6 feet below sea level and that's scary enough. Just imagining 70 feet of water breaking through a dam is horrifying.

[@larryblake842]

Imagine the cultures destroyed and traces of humanity stripped away throughout the ages due to natural and man-made dams failing. Yet we need water.

[@prussianhill]

This wasn't the American Red Cross's first major disaster relief. The Johnstown flood relief effort was likely their biggest operation to date, but the American Red Cross's first major disaster relief was the Thumb fire in 1881. My ancestors survived that ordeal, having grabbed soaking wet blankets before running into a field and covering themselves in the blankets. They were among those helped by thr American Red Cross.

[@sqwidlord8344]

That ad segment was hilarious

[@andrewbaskett8581]

I love this video. You are awesome. You kept saying "Vladict" around the 33 minute mark, its pronounced via-duct.

[@RyJones]

AI talking head can’t speak English; news at 11

[@DerrangedGadgeteer]

Yeah, I hate when there's weird little mistakes in an otherwise robust work. I don't wanna sound like a pedantic pest pointing it out, but every time he makes the mistake it's like my ears hit a pothole.

[@historyofeverythingpodcast]

@@RyJonesnot ai, just the script was written by a researcher of mine and because of that I am more likely to mispronounce

[@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933]

As someone that lives in Pennsylvania (Not in Johnstown) and has visited the flood museum in the past, this whole disaster is a major part of the history of Cambria County. But it's not the only flood the town would suffer, another one would occur in 1977 as a result of a major thunderstorm that had dropped 11 inches of rain in the span of 8 hours.

[@arielshultz6179]

Im a PA girl whose family has lived in PA since before the civil war. Im glad of the description of the income disparity and how the lowest on the ladder was doing backbreaking and dangerous work. All my grandfathers and great-grandfathers had jobs in both coal mines and steel mills. My grandfather once told me that when the local mine opened back up, he immediately left his steel job because the mine was safer. Theres a story in my family about how my great-grandmother was told her husband had died and she corrected them, saying her husband was upstairs. He was upstairs and alive, it was his nephew who had the same name who had died. Ive had multiple family members who lived in company towns and the major communities around me are mostly former company towns. Including the town of Commadore, named after Commadore Vanderbilt. My great-aunt was born in Johnstown during the more minor of the two major flood. And the fact that we can describe a flood like that still chills me.

[@Kaishen021]

This whole story starts with arguably some of the worst of humanity but during the disaster some of the best absolutely shines through.

[@fikusfikus2487]

Literally just moved to Johnstown and the bridge that had all the debris piled up on it is still up to this day it’s so cool

[@jik294]

I'm currently at 9min, 34sec. The labor standards described aren't too for off from a lot of current working standards. At least in factories and plants. Yeah, we have better pay, have "benefits", and occasionally get two days off in a row, but we get zero holidays off.

[@pathoesr7872]

WOW. I pulled this up as a listen too, but I never heard of this event. Sad because apparently it changed our Tort laws so much. That's amazing. Thank you for covering this

[@jaccaj1626]

Amazing storytelling of such a tragic topic. Thank you for sharing the stories of these victims, which many have not yet learned.

[@johnmcconnell7052]

Helen and Milton are hitting hard on the east coast we will rebuild where we can everyone needs to set aside political differences right now and unite

[@wpatrickw2012]

Unfortunately, it’s not going to be that way. Right-wing media is spreading lies that FEMA is spending disaster funds on immigrant housing and Congresswoman marjorie Taylor Green is saying the government caused the hurricanes to intensify and aimed them at red states. 🙄

[@jessevandeinsen4202]

How do you feel when everything is washed away by the sea. Zeeland, The Netherlands has entered the chat.. But we did get the coolest waterworks out of it though

[@JeffBilkins]

Will you do a video about the 1900 Galveston hurricane?

[@JLo83]

Eventually yes, that's one of his upcoming episodes

[@aurorathekitty7854]

I grew up about an hour away from Johnstown and my dad took me to the museum and told me everything you basically said in this video. I miss my dad. My Grandpa on my Mom's side owned a 18th century rich people getaway camp that looked almost like that one out in Johnsonburgh PA. I miss spending weekends there

[@GingerisMaximus]

Like the new channel topic, hell of a time but still gonna watch it! Keep up the good work sir!

[@timma123j]

This ad went above and beyond. And I appreciate it.

[@Hei1Bao4]

Your description of it sounds truly apocalyptic. I've seen many floods and known people to get caught up in a current or eddy and die. But this... that massive eddy on fire is awe-inspiring. The guy who later became a doctor really wowed me. Great job on your research and report.

[@Casperlina96]

Another sad part of the flood was the tax on Alcohol which the state of PA implemented to raise funds for the flood victims, which very little of actually went to the town and is still in affect today. So yeah, the state used the disaster to increase tax revenue and did bupkis.

[@iciclecold2991]

Typical Government bs...

[@michaeloyaski7602]

​@@iciclecold2991 yep

[@FuckFistingAss7osuFF7osu]

I live near johnstown and the lift thing is so cool

[@irishbull25]

I had to subscribe this was intense. The amount of research u had to do and how in depth u go. Man wow

[@theofficerfactory2625]

As a fan of the PRR, it is unavoidable to hear about the Johnstown Flood. We have books in my late dad's library of it and is a part of the attraction at Horseshoe Curve. I thought the 1996 Cumberland Flood was bad, I never heard the details told in such a manner that I never before until now grasped at the severity of it nor realized just what purpose the dam served until now.

[@evanlucas8914]

Theres so much great history in Pennsylvania. I just visited Johnstown earlier this year on a short day trip. Id be happy to play tour guide if you'd like to visit western Pennsylvania. I'm a hobbyist photographer, and a buff of all things historical and natural. In fact Pennsylvania is a wonderful story of the history of conservation in America.

[@404Off-line]

Dude holy Jesus thank you. I’m from the area and it’s gone lost to history for the rest of the country. Prior to 9/11 was the largest loss of life due to structural failure.

[@kerry2112]

My home is right on the Stony Creek, about a half hour from Johnstown. ❤ Once or twice a year, we get one of those really heavy rains, and the water rises and rushes and even though we’re well up the hill, it gets exciting.

[@Stingray58Reece]

I never knew I needed to see him make a grumpy face, but that transition killed me. I'm crying from laughing right now😂

[@povertymidas]

Thank you for sharing these stories

[@teekaa2520]

The Ad break was great 😂

[@robertpayne6781]

I used to work in the former US Steel mill in Johnstown before it fully shuttered during the 08 housing crisis. In the machine shop building along the Conemaugh River, there were plaques on the wall showing the high water marks from both floods.

[@ThomasSandau]

Love this subject. Thanks for covering it!😃

[@hiimgamerspruzzino5804]

Near where i live, in northern Italy there is a place called Vajont, its story is very similar to this. Basically between the 50s and 60s they constructed a very big dam that held a lake in the mountains, amongst a few villages. This dam was fitted in the cracks of the mountains and this caused problems in them. Soon gigantic cracks showed on them, big pieces of land slipper away, floodings happened and loud whistles could be heard. In October 1963, at night a giant boulder a few kilometers across detached from the mountains snd splashed full force on the lake. This caused the water to erupt violently and overflow the village on the other side of the dam. A powerful wind swept the village away completely and then a few minutes later the water finished the job, burying it. This is known as the Vajont incident and the main cause was the engineers from Enel not giving an absolute fuck about the people's concerns, since EVERYBODY knew something was happening. Instead, they kept the dam because it had been a big project and, well, it ended in tragedy

[@DaVinciwithaphaser]

recently i went to Crescent City near the red woods and the flood history their is wild.

[@JayFochs1337]

0:25 sounds just like America now 😅

[@ArrhensMirror]

I've lived only about half an hour from Johnstown my entire life, but I never knew much about the flood. Something I wish I did know, and now I will

[@raidshadowlegendenjoyer3071]

Didn’t expect someone to talk about a town so close to mine 😂

[@ellis7099]

Hey i live in the town just the road from johnstown. Glad to see a video done about it. On the old footbridge between the U-haul place and JWF. There used to be a few Logs balanced on the base of the pillar in the middle. Sadly they’re gone now but they’ve been there since the ‘77 Flood. My mom wouldve died in the flood when it wiped out the trailer court where the power-plant in seward is now. Had she not moved out before it happened.

[@mattpolinsky4234]

I live like 25-30 mins from Johnstown and have spent a decent bit of time there. Grew up in Pittsburgh and luckily I am an autist for history in one of the best towns and states for U.S history so needless to say I learned a shit ton about Carnegie and Frick and how Frick well “fricked” up the south fork dam. All for his carriage.

[@KallahMari]

Oh cool thanks for posting this after I finished my college Water Resources course final.....................

[@tedcruz212]

I’m from Pennsylvania, and we actually had a whole semester about the Johnston flood (as in we went there on a trip and did a debate about who was in the wrong.) it’s a crazy story to say the least.

[@Azazel-uv3sx]

That ad was so cute

[@leverknight49]

I worked down in the old us steel plant for a short time and one of the older workers showed me 2 lines worn into the beams near the roof and they where from the 2 big floods

[@waffles4322]

Im from Johnstown, the museum is pretty cool, a lot of the old buildings still have water lines from all 3 of the big floods, and my family were all there for the last one in the 70s (77 I think?) So got a lot of stories from them.

[@yodawolfe1099]

I don't know why but damn this video made me feel

[@timmypuffnutz]

I recently found out I’m directly related to Henry Clay Frick, it always hurts my heart how greed of a few people took so many innocent lives

[@cjbloyer4137]

David McCullough has an AMAZING book on this! I re-read it about once a year bc it's soooooo good.

[@verselesscooking9416]

Things like this are why we have Unions.

[@JACKINSTEIN]

I believe the Shawonese and Delaware Indians called this area "flooding mountains" or something along those lines. Almost like they tried to warn us before we settled the area.

[@Stingray58Reece]

You forgot to mention about the Franklin Street Methodist Church saving a large chunk of the town from being swept away due to the church being made of stone and quite strong.

[@cheecheneg]

Johnstown got mentioned 🗣🗣🗣🔥🔥🔥

[@vonries]

A disaster really being out the very best and the very worst in people. Which are we going to be?

[@troybaxter]

Sadly a lot of people on the Internet are choosing to be the latter with these recent natural disasters.

[@dragonherald]

everyone check out the chemical worker's song. When Stak is describing the old age at 40 phenomenon this song does a great job of illustrating that.

[@BigNBrother]

Nickism's added to the arsenal. Thank you for telling these peoples stories. I really enjoyed stuff like this.

[@evilmarken]

I need to know more about the vengeance!

[@angleofdarkness9149]

😂😂😂😂😂 10/10 that's the greatest start to world of warships add I've ever seen. Play Gabby actually told you to go play your computer game you look so disappointed😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@khironkinney1667]

My buddy and I found ourselves on the Saco River with everything flooded up to the canopy. We we hit mile 12 or 13 out of 19. Everything was underwater. I rowed a boat for 5 hours straight I wore holes in my thumbs. My buddy and I when we realized the situation we were in. Not a word was said. We looked at each other and put on our life jackets and strapped knives to ourselves it was one of the most unexpected do or die situations that I've ever found myself in. It looked like the Florida Everglades with strong current walls of death everywhere.

[@Ryan2K900]

18:33 Oh yeah! That’s so weird normally dams hold water from a river or something and this one just spits out its own, look at that 😃

[@HellsCowBoy666]

my dad grew up about an hour from Johnstown in Meyersday

[@Mx12b]

Okay, that bathtub bit was great 😂

[@aprilrichards762]

In Western Pennsylvania, May 31st is notorious for severe weather. 1985 had a tornado outbreak.

[@patrickbo2045]

That reminds me of about ten to fifteen years ago when a ton of power line towers in europe would give in and collapse. Made from so called Thomas Steel, the same material the Eiffel Tower is made of. Oooooor something like that, it's been a hot minute.

[@Rinihime]

Where I live, we have one of the victims of the flood - a nameless little girl - buried in our cemetery. She's well taken care of, all these years later.

[@schuetermcgavin]

If I remember correctly. This was the event that made Carnegie go from a greedy businessman to the biggest philanthropist of his time. Using his wealth to raise awareness and scholarships for engineering students to prevent tragedies like this.

[@nicholaskovach2072]

It played a factor. He was one of few people who couldn’t escape notoriety from the event. Much of the info on the club and its members quickly disappeared,to the point where the park service didn’t identify many of the original buildings until the early 90s. The flood museum in Johnstown is in the original Carnegie library building, and talks quite a bit about his response.

[@patrickhasachannel]

steel mills even today are loud asf even with PPE i remember visiting my grandpa when he managed the fabrication floor, i was maybe only 4, but my dad told me i couldn't look in certain directions bc of the welders working and i only had goggles, not an arc visor still have the helmet tho

[@Nylon_riot]

As a Pennsylvanian, I appreciate you covering this. While many stories about "evil capitalists" are hyperbolic, this is NOT one of them. In fact, this guy doesn't get enough heat. He extorted his own. Carnegie ( we pronounce it Car-neigh-gee, locally) is heralded as a tycoon, he was a horrible person. West PA sees him as a villain, and he is the reason my only hardcore ideology is defending the working class. If you resent how corporations go on PR campaigns to whitewash their image after doing something terrible, you can thank him for inventing it. He went on a pr campaign building stuff to change his image by doing things like building a library but still never paid his workers. Also, what is going on with Morrel's beard game in that Pic? Is that literally a neck beard?

[@jaimzmyers3699]

One of the first field trips I went on in elementary school was too the Johnstown flood museum, then to the horse shoe cure, which would be an interesting video. I don't remember if it was the same field trip that doesn't make sense that it was, but I remember it being one trip. Either way, it was memorable, and the Johnstown lift maybe those to were the same trip and the horse shoe curve was a separate trip that makes the most sense it's coming back haha.

[@markniesche9208]

Was gonna like your video anyways but I wish I could double like it for the add bit haha

[@dramsac17]

Everywhere I go I see houses and roads and towns and cities that were built by people who clearly had no understanding of erosion or flooding. Then a storm comes and wrecks everything. And everything gets put right back where it was.

[@markmathisen3908]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a whole lot of "my friends" you're laying on us! I'm new here, I don't even KNOW you, this seems really fast... but, what the hell, we'll be friends. [fist bump] 👊 We buds now.

[@gow1044]

I second this motion

[@alt5494]

Reed & Smith LLP is a true behemoth often rated among the best law firms. With revenue in the billions it is difficult to understand why they have not attempted to at least offset their founders actions. Scholarships & memorial parks are not that expensive..

[@nathanbopp6163]

I believe Carnegie spent a fortune to make up for it, but not sure about the others

[@smiledespite]

I’ve been to the flood museum a few times my mom took me there and the incline plane a few times as a kid and the middle school I went to had a field trip there and my mom went to college there it’s honestly crazy the pictures they have seeing a entire town leveled just the entire area between the two mountains the whole valley just flattened trees uprooted and houses flattened it’s crazy to think something like that could happen here today without the damns around

[@inquisitive4]

How many club members were associated with competing steel companies?

[@wpatrickw2012]

The story of the Labor Day storm would make a good video.

[@priximus2254]

it is a tragedy but this should be made into a movie for posterity!

[@lazuris83]

Huh, first time on a video, neat. Also, indeed, quite the unfortunate timing.

[@craigcroyle5714]

I live about 30' from where that lake wasin st.michalePennsylvania

[@dangarrett8676]

The only reason why I know about Johnstown is because of The Kent Family Chronicles

[@2475wag]

Can you do a story on land surveying?

[@CMDR_B0B]

As a 34th century SnakeShip Salesman, I'm just here to let you know... ...that was the 2nd best World of Warships add I have ever seen. Sorry but I seriously doubt Anyone will be able to top LazerPig™'s epic WOW feature length advertisement (it's like five minutes long and somehow too short;-). Have Fun&Post Dangerous 'Only ship in the Galaxy to come equipped with a soul 😇'

[@theronhoelter1749]

Can you do an episode on expounding on the Paris exposition or the American counterpart, the world's Colombian exposition? I'd love to hear your thoughts on those 2 fairs.

[@JLo83]

They did an episode on the podcast of the 1893 Chicago world's fair. At least the first part is here on the KZbin channel

[@Kaiserboo1871]

Future disaster you should cover: Hurricane Katrina (2005)

[@violenceandpoetry]

Any chance of you covering the Carrington Event?

[@sharkchaos5160]

Great video.

[@Theo-ev6yu]

A bit disappointed that you didn't say that the unicorn was HMS Unicorn.