The New London School Explosion: America's Deadliest School Tragedy

Explore the tragic history of the 1937 New London School explosion. Discover the events leading to the disaster, the heroic rescue efforts, and the lasting impact on this East Texas community.
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[@TimbreWuulf]

My dad used to tell me, "Safety Regulations are written in blood." and I feel like that isn't acknowledged enough anymore. Every rule or regulation that exists today, no matter how stupid it may seem, is there because something like this happened, and someone wanted to make sure it never happened again.

[@videogamevalley7523]

Sir your dad is an absolute legend with that line, it sucks cause something tragic has to happen for things to change.

[@answerman9933]

@TimberWuulf. You need to better qualify your statement. By writing "Every rule or regulation..." you open yourself up to nitpicking and denouncement.

[@angmori172]

FAR from every regulation is written in blood.

[@99mage99]

@@answerman9933 Anything can be nitpicked and denounced, regardless of how well one articulates themselves. Let the peasants toil away over petty semantics.

[@JoeRogansForehead]

Yours and every other dad

[@jd3864]

Siomon, I would like to thank you and your writers for covering this tragedy. My great uncle Charles Basil Salyer (age 11) died in the explosion. My grandmother and great aunt (his sisters) spoke of him often. He was loved in life and remembered often after his passing. Rest easy uncle Basil.

[@laynedoe3455]

Your ability to speak about something so serious and tragic as this with such empathy, reverence, while being completely raw- its astonishing. This was an incredible upload. Im 27 and i never knew about this.

[@P9ctMak3r]

That recounting of the parents fighting over remains like dogs was one of the most harrowing things I've ever heard.

[@BoDiddle-ik1cg]

Yea, that was rough.

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

I grew up there so I heard that description before. It blew the building up in the air and the whole thing came down into the basement. Basements aren't common in East Texas even in schools now, but I think in those days the heating was located in school basements. I remember the old part of my school in Spring Hill up by Longview having one in the oldest part of the school and I think that was where a boiler was. We had those same gas heaters in our school. And asbestos. And it's true about the oil wells. We had them all over campus. And the school has the mineral rights.

[@Bjwuv]

I came to say the same. Can u imagine. If gives me chills.

[@user-vv8ve4px5j]

They had rich white parents in the racist bible belt in the 1930s in a school paid for by rich oil tycoons, cry me a river.

[@user-vv8ve4px5j]

Rich people, racists and people south of the bible belt are the trifecta of utterly unlikable people, especially when combines that it's hard to feel sympathy for in any way. Especially during the past during the time of the Klan. When you compare that to how other non white kids lived in the south who didn't have super rich parents who owned oil fields. Black and Latino in the deep south in the 1930s.

[@vict4451]

My great grandpa went through some dark times in Europe but he always said the worst moments he ever went through was helping dig through the rubble and finding body parts.

[@JupiKitten]

Another east texas person chiming in. My husband and I used to live 2 minutes down the road from the school in New London. Was really surprised Simon didn't mention the Hitler condolence letter, at the very least to show this was a tragedy the entire world was watching despite the long list of major events and atrocities that took place that year. Glad to see this story being talked about. Its not one that should be forgotten, but outside of east texas I don't think many remember it.

[@jaybird0312]

That is... well I dont really know.

[@anthonystott46]

One thing that could have been mentioned is that Adolf Hitler managed to be moved enough to where he sent a cocondolence telegram to Franklin Roosevelt...that is the most bizarre fact about this whole tragedy...

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

Yea. It is weird and we all sort of wonder why and think its kind of strange. But he was an evil mad man so who knows. It know it's for real and it is still at the museum or in a county archive or somethin. I've never tried to see it. I'm not sure it is on display at this point. I really hope they put it away somewhere. It is part of history so I get the reason to keep it but I think it's vulgar to go look at it.

[@JK_Clark]

Walter Cronkite found himself in New London on one of his first assignments for United Press International. Although Cronkite went on to cover World War II and the Nuremberg trials, he was quoted as saying decades later, "I did nothing in my studies nor in my life to prepare me for a story of the magnitude of that New London tragedy, nor has any story since that awful day equaled it."

[@JesseJoyce-cj2xg]

There were actually some pretty close ties between the Third Reich and America (and the rest of the western world more broadly) before the relationship became a bit more… strained, shall we say. The Americans, British, and more weren’t shy about giving the Nazi salute in Berlin for the 1936 olympics, and Herr Hitler and his cohort took a lot of inspiration from the US for some of their, shall we say, less savory policy decisions (manifest destiny, lebensraum- forced sterilization, T4 program…)

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

Yes. I was mistaken . Dan Rather wouldn't have been born yet.

[@rorytribbet6424]

3/4 of the EU countries sent formal condolences to Iran last week over the death of Raisi… it’s just good diplomacy practices. When you aren’t in an active war with someone you need to keep things appropriate and civil, to form relationships and connections and build a reputation and a country/government of decency. It’s very important.

[@meese9140]

Within a week the state legislature passed a law that required gas companies to add stank to the gas, and that’s where that comes from.

[@saliumoyosore5428]

Ross(friends) must be proud of you

[@jlongino51823]

He covered that.

[@brodriguez11000]

I imagine the practice of tapping was looked at as well.

[@Roddy556]

Oh neat. Did you learn that from watching the video? A few other highlights: the incident involved a school and it occurred in New London.

[@FallenMuse81]

Yeah I remember my grandmother telling me about that.

[@mawnkey]

When I was in elementary school in Kilgore we went to visit New London and they told us the story of everything that happened. As a kid it really helped me get the idea that tomorrow is never a guarantee in life. I've never forgotten it.

[@TYMGhosT]

I live 15 miles from where the school was. I’ve heard the story hundreds of times and it’s only later in life that I’ve been able to really grapple with how truly horrific this was.

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

How old are you. I'm the same way. I had an oh crap moment when I was in junior high and understood what happened. The lady who watched me after school when I was in the 1st grade lost her daughter there. I'm 55 and it really is part of being from Rusk county. I drive by there when I go to Joinerville.

[@Pemex93]

I work in Natural Gas Distribution in Coastal California. We are all taught about this tragedy. By practice, we test the intensity of the odorant added throughout our territory at least once a month.

[@alexandertg97-fgc48]

Im from gilmer, not too far away, my grandfather would always tell me about what happened when we drove through. They no longer keep such things around there, but the school still owns land with oil and gas so this tiny little town has like restaurants and stuff at the school. Horrible tragedy, theyve definitely never forgotten what happened to those poor kids.

[@lukefarnham2119]

Im from tyler. Im sure there are seniors in our family that knew people affected. Thank god for mother francis.

[@amandajones661]

Over 300 people died and over 300 were injured. That's trauma that will last for many generations.

[@jstnhnt28]

I grew up going to school in Rusk County and have heard this story from my family, my neighbors, and my history teaches for years - but hearing it from Simon is just surreal. Such a tragic event.

[@Nesseight]

Crack is a dangerous drug, but one of the most surreal PSA's about it was where Paul Ruebens addressed the seriousness of the dangers surrounding it.

[@elderfarmstead]

I remember my dad telling me the story several times. My grandfather was a clock and watch repairman who lived in Henderson, Tx. A man had brought his mantle clock to my grandfather for repair. The night before the explosion the man woke up hearing that mantle clock chime 13 times at midnight. Mind you this clock was in my grandfather's possession NOT in the house of the man that owned the clock. When the school exploded he lost one or more of his children. When he saw my grandfather again he told him to keep that clock he didn't want it back because it was a bad omen. I wish I had more details of this story but my grandfather passed away when my dad was only 9 years old. But the story has been part of our family for all of these years. It breaks my heart for all of those parents who lost their children. 💔

[@Drew-bc7zj]

Wonder what happened to the clock?

[@sherowtexas]

I lived in Texas my whole life and never heard of this tragic piece Texas history. Thanks for sharing.

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

Hi all, I own a farm about 12 miles north of New London off of Highway 42. That story has loomed long over that part of the state. There was a law passed in Texas in addition to the adding of odorant to natural gas. After the explosion it became illegal to represent yourself as or post a bill advertising yourself as an engineer unless you pass the state professional engineering exam. This did really start a ball rolling for safety in the oil field. Around Kilgore and Overton people will turn to that subject once in a while. And in the old days when I was a kid in Longview you would run into someone who lost someone. I had a lady who watched me after school. She lived out at Spring Hill. She had a picture of her daughter in her living room and when I asked where she was she said she died in the explosion in New London. I didn't really get it. I was only 6, but later when I was in junior high I learned about what had happened I kind of had an oh crap moment when I remembered that. I'm 54 now. It's been a while. The lady was pretty old, her name was Mrs. Adams and I never forgot about her because of that. The theater group at Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler did a production of The Girl in the White Pinafore which is based on a book about the explosion. My nephew was in it. There is a museum there that has a letter from Hitler sending condolences. It was that bad.

[@jerrybaughman4340]

I grew up in this area, went to the church next to the rebuilt school, drove past the memorial monument placed in remembrance of this tragedy. According to family history, and i can't back this up, but i was told growing up that my grandfather was playing hookey fun school the day it exploded. It's a terrible thing that happened, and hopefully never happens again.

[@1952creswell]

A couple of missing facts - At the time of the explosion the town of New London was named London. It later became New London. Also Adolph Hitler sent his condolences to the devastated town.

[@xSavedSoulx]

If even a dude like him is extending condolences, you can tell it's truly grim.

[@sixpakshaker88]

I worked with a man, that was a kindergartner that called in sick that day. He was completely out of his mind.

[@johnnytucker6709]

I used to go to school there. It's cool seeing you talking about it. I've met a man that skipped school that day. He died years ago now but it was strange talking to someone who knew kids that died that day.

[@sixpakshaker88]

My grandfather used "condensate" to run his truck back then. Which is pretty much what they used to heat the building.

[@zorrokass3]

We once had to evacuate my school when a road crew accidentally cracked open a main gas line. The gas flowed downhill, flowing straight into the school and the oval (where usually students would be evacuated). Thankfully, the firemen worked it out quickly enough to evacuate everyone uphill and no one was harmed (beyond a couple of people getting headaches, nausea and lethargic). They turned off the gas line quickly and ventilated the buildings. Still scary to imagine what could have happened if the situation wasn't identified and managed so well.

[@Str8Bidness]

My cousin Forest Coker was "officially" the oldest child killed in the explosion. He is buried at the Greenpond Cemetery, in Hopkins county Texas. The true number of children lost will never be known, because some parents simply picked up their child and left, like my cousin's parents did, but without becoming part of the official registry.

[@newshodgepodge6329]

No mention of anyone having turned off the flow of gas during the search and rescue operation, especially since that would not be identified as the cause for some time after the disaster? It's probably a miracle that there were no secondary explosions.

[@brandnewdan]

The source of the leak probably remained on fire so it wasn't able to build up again.

[@danielgreen1464]

Wow! I live in Jacksonville. Amazing to see how many east Texans are in here.

[@JupiKitten]

I know right? Had no idea Fact Boi had so many East Texas fans!

[@lukefarnham2119]

Tylerite here, i was just thinking the same thing!

[@Dogdoc1000]

I went to high school in Texas and have lived in Texas off and on for over 25 years. In High school you have more semesters of Texas history than world history but I have never heard of this. Thank you for that. Today, if something similar happened, and it affected a large corporate entity, it would be far more difficult to implement safety regulations, but I am sure there would be many thoughts and prayers.

[@FallenMuse81]

Some of these first responders were in their vehicle driving for over 3 hours just to get there so you'll have an idea of the size of Texas. My grandmother spoke about this and how I changed all the schools in Texas.

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

Yea. It's pretty far to Tyler. I think they opened Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler that day to care for the explosion patients. It wasn't scheduled to open for a week or so. I believe that is what my mom told me.

[@santa1563]

hell a 3 hr drive in texas is nothing lol. we drove farther for football games.

[@FallenMuse81]

@@santa1563 as Texans we understand but most people don't realize we're the same size as Poland.

[@georgehenderson6555]

Fun little fact. In the museum in Texas detached to this school has a letter of condolence from Adolf Hitler

[@indigobuburat]

Seriously? That is wild.

[@Jeffdoeswhat]

I lived in a town over in Overton. Spent many hours in that town weekly. Lots of friends lived/live there.

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

Me too. I went to Spring Hill by Longview, but we have a farm between Overton and Kilgore. Kind of off 42 and 1639. I worked at the college farm in the 90's and my buddy who managed the place went to New London. I have a lot of fun when I get home. Love my farming and Rusk county.

[@Jeffdoeswhat]

@@pbimpactresearch4727 i live in longview now. I know of them areas really well.

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

@@Jeffdoeswhat I haven't lived there for a long time. I'm kind of an absentee farmer. My brother still lives in Spring Hill. He loves that school. I spend more time in Tyler and Henderson these days. And Kilgore of course.

[@pncalicutt]

My grandpa helped dig through the rubble and my wife's grandma lost 2 cousins in the explosion. Couldn't imagine.

[@jrmckim]

Live on the border in Logansport. My grandfather parents lived in near there at the end of 1939 and help rebuild things as he was an expert welder. He had just arrived in the US from Germany. It was his first American job. He went on to work on

[@jrmckim]

Submarines during ww2

[@pixiesouter9461]

Humans can be such horrid c**** sometimes. But the thing that always makes me feel a little better in these stories is the way normal people just flock to areas of disaster to just lend whatever help they can. Its heartwarming in the most bittersweet way possible.

[@phazix6529]

Its crazy to think that throughout the next 20 years or so that whole town was just missing a generation of people, and the exodus of other people from that area due to the tragedy must have made it near a ghost town

[@jeannehall6546]

This incident reminds me of the big fire at Our Lady of the Angels school in Chicago in 1958- 92 kids and 3 Sisters who taught there were killed. This led to more concerns about fire safety. One of the students who survived the fire was 8-year-old third-grader Jonathan Friga, who would go on to fame as Jonathan Cain, keyboard and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Journey. Cain later referenced the fire in the lyrics of the Journey song "Ask The Lonely": As you search the embers Think what you've had, remember Hang on, don't you let go now.

[@ItsJustLisa]

It’s weird to think that adding mercaptan to natural gas was only about 25 years old nationwide when I was born. When we moved to Minnesota when I was a teenager, the house my parents bought had been built in 1949 with a coal furnace. One corner of our basement still had black walls from the coal deliveries.

[@wishingstar22]

I just watched a video about this the other day on a channel called "Well, I Never." Older Scottish guy named Paul Brodie. He's very, very good. Covers disasters, true crime, etc.

[@maldetete431]

I'm a subscriber of his as well. He is a very good, fact-based guy.

[@anniereddj]

Thanks for the recommendation!!

[@Tortall2012]

As I listen to this, I am torn between horror and grief. Horror about what happened; horror that this is the reason why we can typically smell a gas leak before a explosion could happen; horror that this isn’t touched on even for the briefest of moments in history lessons or science lessons in school. But the grief hits harder. It hits harder because I can never return to my high school because the building I remember no longer exists. I had only graduated three years before the building I learned in, grew in, and made lasting memories in was completely destroyed in a natural gas explosion. It was mid morning, in the beginning of August. School hadn’t started yet for the new year but sports teams had begun their beginning of year training. From what I heard from someone right across from the building at that time, the deadliness of the explosion could have been so much higher than it was if it had happened 1 hour before or after the actual time. It’ll be seven years this August since that explosion.

[@winterwalsh5601]

you should make audio books. ive never used them, hated hem because the readers voice is never a match for the story, but yours i could listen to all of the 40,000 odd books ive read

[@johnhayes7590]

And add tangents

[@brandnewdan]

Wait.....40,000 books?! if you read one book every day, that would take approximately 109 years. Are you maybe exadurating a little?!

[@gamerjaqi7873]

@@brandnewdandepends on the size of the book and how fast you read.

[@JesseJoyce-cj2xg]

Exadurating? No, although he might be exaggerating a little.

[@brandnewdan]

@@JesseJoyce-cj2xg OK, well, spelling might have been off, but the maths was bang on!

[@brockhughes1480]

Thank you for this..... I went to this school most of my childhood..... and this was some great content and more ppl need to know about this..... Simon ur faking amazing keep up the good work

[@MrVox77]

I went to West Rusk elementary in New London. It was such a tragedy that even Hitler sent a letter of condolences that used to be on display in the pharmacy across from the school.

[@Dogdoc1000]

Wow, but I think if he had mentioned that it would have overshadowed the story. I bet they had a discussion about that behind the scenes. Plus demonetization occurs many times when Hitlers name is mentioned. It would be interesting to have a video about how Hitler interacted with the United States in the 20s and 30s. He probably would not make any money on that video though.

[@1974lionsfan]

I really cant believe ive never heard of this tragedy! RIP to all those affected

[@jrmckim]

Speaking of Rusk, after all the bad storms left thousands without power, a lineman for swepco lost both arms while on the job. Please pray for him. Linemen risk their lives everytime there are storms so you can love a comfortable life. They deserve recognition for their hardwork.

[@johnhayes7590]

I wonder if this was the inspiration for the kitchner ironworks explosion in it by Stephen King

[@espurr3496]

People want deregulation without wondering why they were set in the first place.

[@jeffbybee5207]

We know why regs were started but we also know regs are expanded many times more than just safety partly to make money for regulaters and partly out of commercial self interest by manufactured wanting limited competition and insurance companys wanting less losses no matter how much it costs the customer

[@royveteto4134]

there is a museum in new london that highlights this tragedy . there is also a memorial dedicated to this tragedy. .

[@marvindebot3264]

Holy crap, for some things, there are no words . . .

[@rhianawilk315]

There is a book I've had since I was a kid, tragedies of American history, by Ace Collins, and that is where I learned this story, along with events like the Galveston Hurricane and the Coconut Grove fire, I would HIGHLY recommend reading it to anyone who enjoys this channel.

[@benburgess9428]

I’m an oil & gas contractor in the Permian Basin in West Texas. This is one of those events that gets brought up from time to time in safety briefings as a warning of what not to do

[@maldetete431]

Wouldn't mind hearing one about the Ringling Brothers circus fire in Hartford, CT. It was located in the north end of Hartford, not far from where I live now. A school sits on the property now (it's since closed down) and there's a plaque on the property commemorating the event. No one is 100 percent sure on what started the fire and, to my knowledge, there's still a child that remains unclaimed and unknown. It's a sad story but it's a good one.

[@SuperKendoman]

What happened? Do we know what exactly caused this tragedy?

[@maldetete431]

@SuperKendoman no. There are different theories about the start of the fire but it's agreed upon that something on the tarpaulin exacerbated the fire (I think it was the waterproofing, but I'll double check).

[@joannshupe9333]

The child was identified years ago. It was a very weird story involving a mother who wasn't quite right as I recall.

[@SuperKendoman]

@@joannshupe9333 oh that's really unfortunate. I remember a certain fire in Hong Kong where an entire flat of people were burned alive because the fire spread really quickly and the water pressure from the fire hoses we'rent strong enough. Mei Lei residential flats I think it was called

[@drewrub7415]

Thanks for this history. I’d never heard of this before.

[@lukefarnham2119]

Tyler is my hometown, and new london is not far. I was born at mother francis. I grew up hearing stories about new london, and have visited several times. I never understood the gravity when i was a kid, it was just a story. As I've gotten older, its easier for me to imagine to sheer heartbreak my area felt. Such a sad day.

[@RobertHawthorne]

In the late 90's I was working at a building located in an industrial park. One day we started to smell gas in the building and outside. Our building wasn't the only one. Most of the companies in the park started to evacuate employees because of the "gas" smell. Fire department, police and the gas company where called, but they were also busy in other places in the local area. Finally the cause of the issue was determined. A tanker truck carrying the chemical Mercaptan, which is used to give natural gas the distinctive smell had crashed and was leaking content. So, false alarm, but it turned into an excellent emergency response exercise for all the businesses in a mile or so of the truck crash.

[@user-fn1zn7qh3s]

I went to school in Jacksonville TX, not far away. Even Hitler sent a letter of condolence. Those poor babies, one of the most heartless men ever, was shaken by this.

[@gamerjaqi7873]

I worked for Olan Mills when I was 19/20 I has brought my son in after hours to do photos when he was about 7 months old for Christmas. The shop next to us in the retail park had a gas leak. Son and I ended up in the hospital on oxygen for a night. It’s bad gas and carbon monoxide. I just remember being so sick.

[@ricardosaenz569]

I grew up near Bath Michigan which has its own notorious school bombing in 1927; but nothing like the numbers you are talking. I can't believe i had never heard of this

[@kingjellybean9795]

Not a bombing, gas explosion lol biiig difference

[@ricardosaenz569]

@@kingjellybean9795 fair enough point haha

[@kingjellybean9795]

@ricardosaenz569 both still incredibly sad

[@fireengineer477]

I once saw a letter in a museum l, (I cant remember where) from Adolph Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany to the town of New London expressing how saddened that he and the people of Germany were to hear about the tragedy at the school.

[@katherinecollins4685]

Well presented and researched

[@DylanClaggett]

Yeah I was diagnosed with 3rd generation ptsd from this my great great grandfathers brother went to that school

[@DJScopeSOFM]

This story gives me the chills.

[@fourcatsandagarden]

ooohhh I remember learning about this from the 'well there's your problem' podcast. they cover engineering disasters both historical and current.

[@CharlietheWarlock]

Note to self never build school next to a oil field or natural gas reserve

[@santa1563]

I grew up not far from there. my school was also founded on oil fields and it wasn’t until I got older that I realized having oil equipment in the playgrounds was odd 😅 also hearing simon say “east texas” bewilders me for some reason

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

yea. it was cool having all of that industrial stuff everywhere out in the woods and stuff. We would play Star Wars on the catwalks of the tank batteries and ride the pump jacks like horses. And all of the pipes that ran from wells to tank batteries ran across creeks so we used them as bridges. I used to be able to run across a creek on a piece of 2 7/8ths pipe full speed like I was running down a trail. My school had so much money growing up because of all the oil under the land Mrs. Castleberry gave the community to build the school and Presbyterian church next door. She gave both the mineral rights as well. Like I said. The school had bank.

[@TroysSweetCornhole]

I know this channel would cover the 1921 Tulsa Oklahoma "Black Wall Street" massacre very well

[@sevenofzach]

I live in Oklahoma and it definitely wasn't taught in our schools

[@danielsass1826]

I mean very few are honest about it. The role the black people paid via the gang rapes and the number of white people who died are never mentioned not to mention that the real death tolls are wildly exaggerated

[@TroysSweetCornhole]

@@sevenofzach yeah I randomly read about it on an Instagram post

[@Dogdoc1000]

I think he did talk about the Tulsa Massacre. Maybe on another one of his channels? I lived in Oklahoma for about 15 years, the majority in Tulsa and never heard of the massacre until I no longer lived there. I think I heard about it on You Tube or a documentary.

[@ominousowl9864]

i’ve heard this video covered before but i had no idea the electric sander actually had a NICKNAME it was so faulty

[@user-qi1js9zc1f]

The school’s name is now Leverettes Chapel. There is no New London School anymore. Lived just over the county line from there

[@amandajones661]

Wow! I had never heard this story.

[@GrievousReborn]

I thought this was about the guy who blew up a school

[@patrickhansen7057]

I think that's the Bath School incident. If so Simon has also covered it in the past

[@michaeldoucette8037]

Same

[@thumperjr100]

Likewise

[@GrievousReborn]

@@patrickhansen7057 yeah I know Simon covered it I just don't think it was on this channel so I thought he was just covering it again but here because he's done that before covered one topic on multiple channels

[@patrickhansen7057]

@@GrievousReborn fair enough, I just assumed you were hoping for that video and tried to help. Sorry for making the assumption

[@cybercruzysz]

You are so much better than TV

[@maggieolmstead818]

A tragedy that would be appreciated is the Sewol Ferry sinking in 2014 in South Korea. Over 300 students on a school field trip were killed after being told to stay still in their rooms while the boat sank. The crew left the children behind and saved themselves instead. The incident was linked to government and media corruption and directly led to the impeachment and conviction of South Korea's president. Perhaps it might be more suited to Casual Criminalist, it is complicated how it all unfolded and the story of the parents and children is heart wrenching. It is Korea's greatest tragedy

[@oneminuteofmyday]

The odorant added to natural gas saved our lives after the gas company damaged the line to our house while adding new main lines in the alley. I woke up in the middle of the night not being able to breathe and that smell explained why. I’m eternally grateful for the precaution, but it’s heartbreaking to hear the horrific extent of tragedy that triggered the safety regulation of adding it.

[@Itchyknee88]

Who else is never surprised, when nobody is ever held accountable for a disasters…? 🙄

[@texasfirst7276]

My elementary art teacher's father was Leo Bishop the Texas Ranger sent to New London to investigate the explosion.

[@ZachBurns-gu9zk]

Hoover says. The regulations are often written in blood and failing to adhere to them could get the next one written in your blood

[@eldritchperfection213]

Texas passing legislation and regulations on business after a school related tragedy. That is surprising.

[@Brett_S_420]

They were adding books to the library!

[@anthonystott46]

Texas used to be run by compassionate and rational people.....not like this any more...

[@DeliveryMcGee]

Fun fact: the Chancellor of Germany sent a telegram expressing his condolences. You know it's bad when THAT GUY says "Sorry to hear about the tragedy." (source: I seent it. I used to work for the Longview News -- nearest "big" newspaper -- and covered the 70th and 80th anniversary memorial services. They have a little museum across the street from the memorial cenotaph).

[@pbimpactresearch4727]

That is true. I've never gone in the museum to see it, but I've had a lot of people tell me about it. One of my friends went to school in New London and he has seen it.

[@johnathansaegal3156]

Simon, have you done an episode on the Bath School Disaster (massacre) in Michigan back in 1927 on any of your channels?

[@wackyruss]

Wow! I’m from Texas and I never heard about this before!

[@markmulligan-qw8eo]

SUGGESTIONS for two more of your excellent video essays: - Political assassinations reported across the world. International and internal aggressions, officials high and low, politicians, political activists and journalists. Recent exponential increase everywhere. Opening phase and first symptom of WW3? - 47 active volcanos today; one third those or less, twenty years ago. Projected effects of increased volcanic particulates and gasses in the atmosphere and seas. Cooling, duration, oceanic and land fertilization or acidification, projected hypothetical overloads. Yuh know, like?

[@jasontower1205]

Imagine how many mass school shootings could have been prevented with that kind of instant response? That ability to identify a potential repeatable problem, and saying "never again, not if we can help it!" That's the America I want to live in.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

As of 2021, the event is the third-deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the 1947 Texas city disaster.

[@adammarktaylor]

Did you cover the Aberfan disaster yet?

[@FortyHyena]

You guys should do an episode on the Hartford Circus Fire of 1944. My grandmother was there and survived it.

[@willowhofmann7409]

I'm an American. Always have been. For 43 years. I've never been to the UK. I've never been to Europe. I've never been anywhere but North America. Why am I only ever hearing about this nightmarish accident from two gentlemen from the UK. Simon here. And Paul Brodie of Well, I Never ....? Guess I'm not a good 'mericun....

[@desertmammoth3159]

Your country is huge, you could spend a life time learning about all of the interesting tidbits of your nation's history and still only know a fraction of it. I am from the UK, a much smaller country, but I couldn't tell you a thing about the history of Wales - which is about a three hour car drive away from where I live. All I really know about those guys is that they have an affection for sheep.

[@gamerjaqi7873]

I’m an American, I had never learned of it either.

[@gamerjaqi7873]

@@desertmammoth3159haha. Baa means no. They say the same about Aberdeen up here in Scotland

[@reddwarfer999]

@@desertmammoth3159And won't serve the English in pubs.

[@desertmammoth3159]

@@reddwarfer999 I have yet to meet an Englishman who can afford to be served in any pub, so that's not a problem.

[@worryworm]

Honestly, why does not this quick change in legislation, and quick action happen today? Never mind the lobbyists of corporations. I just cannot fathom it.

[@christopherg7483]

Every safety rule is written in blood. This one was drowned in it 😢

[@notangel5304]

Would love to see a episode on the Salvadoran Civil War and the Death squads operating during that time and even to this day!

[@gregb6469]

Another interesting thing about this is that it made the headlines in Europe, and even Hitler sent a wire to New London expressing his sympathy.

[@duncancurtis5108]

GreatDisasterOGraphics needs to cover the 1863 New York Draft Riots, as featured in the Caprio movie.

[@joannshupe9333]

There was no mention of regulations regarding tapping into free "waste" gas from oil fields. After all, you can add all the stink you want for paying customers, but that wasn't the case here.

[@multiyapples]

I knew someone who moved to Tyler, Texas.

[@vesstheman999]

It was such a tragedy that even Adolf Hitler sent a letter of condolences

[@vict4451]

Right? It's crazy knowing he actually felt sympathy for the loss of life.

[@WaywardVet]

Never knew about this. The minute you said maloderants something clicked. Yup, have heard of that, and i definitely rememeber my chemical warfare training. That's one of the "Get out now" smells. Classification; flammable and or thermobaric. It's already mixing with oxygen if you can smell it. And thermobaric bombs will rapidly deplete the oxygen when ignited. So if the blast doesn't get ya, the debries falling down might. If you can survive that, it'll be the lack of oxygen that gets you.

[@arthurvane3901]

In your future episodes could you do one about Vietnam re-education camps after the fall of south Vietnam. Or North Korea’s concentration camps.

[@elizabethgrey9157]

Wait a second...There wasn't a sure body count? Surely, every family knew how many kids were missing, and even in 1937, there was a recorded number of employees in the school....

[@tudorjason]

The scale of this disaster seems similar to the Bath School disaster

[@faiyoake]

This was one Walter Cronkite’s earliest stories. Even after covering the holocaust he maintained this had been far worse

[@BradfordC]

The similar event in Bath, MI was pretty insane. Except it was intentional.

[@ivanadragmire2873]

Texas in the 1930s when a tragedy occurs: IMMEDIATE regulation within a week, no hesitation, no argument Texas in the 2020s when a tragedy occurs: ReGuLaTiOn? the fuck is that? yeeha! freedom! *gunshots*

[@specracer28]

Is it sad that as an American my first thought was which school shooting was this?