On This Day

On This Day… The Castle Gate Mine Disaster
Written by: George Chittenden : 08 Jul 2019
It was on this day, 8th March, back in 1924 when the Castle Gate mine disaster occurred. The incident happened in a coal mine in Utah, 90 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Three explosions cost the lives of 171 men working in the mine.
The cause of the explosions was the failure to properly dampen coal dust in the mine during the previous shift. When a fire boss was investigating possible gas near the roof of the mine, his carbide lamp went out.
He tried to relight his lamp with a match that ignited the gas and coal dust, causing a huge explosion. The blast was so powerful it launched a mining car a distance of nearly a mile and ripped gates from their concrete foundations. It took nine days to recover the bodies.






On other days ...
Month: | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
29 | 30 | 31 |
We promote history by...
offering free articles and videos, providing free history experiences for children in schools and on weekends. Next year we will be visiting hospitals and providing unforgettable experiences to children who really need it and give them a chance to forget their condition, their treatment and their reality.
Please join others who support our free projects by giving a small donation. We can only continue our great work with your help.