Today is the 71st anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster. The most famous and largest dirigible ever built exploded into flames in 1937 in New Jersey upon mooring. There were 36 fatalities including passengers and crew.The hydrogen-filled blimp was a successor to the Graf Zeppelin which had successfully traversed the world in 1929. Built by Nazi Germany, the Hindenburg was a ligher than air passenger ship designed to accomodate transatlantic travel.
Needless to say LTA travel fell off markedly after May 6, 1937. It must have been a sight to see in those days but I must admit I would have thought twice about boarding what was essentially an explosion waiting to happen!
Image from Wikipedia Commons. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.
Other interesting events for May 6th:
1955: Grace Kelly meets Prince Rainier
1959: Raymond Burr wins an Emmy
1992: Marlene Dietrich dies
