- Messages
- 774
- Reactions
- 1,848
Surely we all know tidbits of meaningless trivia when it comes to our jobs, our cities, history, even when it comes to guns. So this thread is a place to share some of that meaningless trivia in case you think others will find your bit of it interesting (just for the fun of it).
I'll start with an item that began with the Alec Baldwin killing on the set of "Rust." One person died. Tragic enough. But it got me to wondering, which movie resulted in the most catastrophic loss of life? The answer is pretty stunning: 27 people died from an explosion during the filming of a movie called "The Viking" in 1931. The Viking was a real-life sealing ship which sort of starred in the movie, and just as the film was wrapping up with shots of the ship near an iceberg it exploded on March 15, 1931 off the coast of Newfoundland. Among the fatalities were the film's director, Varick Frissell, and cinematographer Alexander Penrod. Apparently sealing and whaling ships back in the day carried a lot of explosive powder to dislodge from ice if needed and someone was carelessly smoking a pipe by the powder storage. Boom!
I'll start with an item that began with the Alec Baldwin killing on the set of "Rust." One person died. Tragic enough. But it got me to wondering, which movie resulted in the most catastrophic loss of life? The answer is pretty stunning: 27 people died from an explosion during the filming of a movie called "The Viking" in 1931. The Viking was a real-life sealing ship which sort of starred in the movie, and just as the film was wrapping up with shots of the ship near an iceberg it exploded on March 15, 1931 off the coast of Newfoundland. Among the fatalities were the film's director, Varick Frissell, and cinematographer Alexander Penrod. Apparently sealing and whaling ships back in the day carried a lot of explosive powder to dislodge from ice if needed and someone was carelessly smoking a pipe by the powder storage. Boom!
