Historidex / Disasters

Famous Disasters in History: Real Photos

Floods, fires, earthquakes and storms, photographed as they happened or soon after. The captions stick to what is documented.

Open Historidex Free, no account.

5 famous disasters in history stories

Sacramento Street the morning of the quake 1906, San Francisco, California
Arnold Genthe shot this view down Sacramento Street on the morning of the quake, as the fires began. People stand and watch. An estimated 3,000 people died in the quake and the fires that followed.
A black blizzard hits Texas 1935, Stratford, Texas, USA
A wall of dust rolls into Stratford, Texas in April 1935. Storms like this cut visibility to a few feet and carried Plains dirt as far as New York City.
A locomotive through the station wall 1895, Gare Montparnasse, Paris
On October 22, 1895, the Granville to Paris express came into Gare Montparnasse too fast, broke through the end wall and fell into the street. Every passenger survived. The one person killed was a woman selling newspapers on the street below, hit by falling stone.
The night Dreamland burned 1911, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York
In May 1911, workers were fixing a ride at Dreamland, on Coney Island, with hot tar when a bucket of it was knocked over. The fire that followed left the amusement park in ruins. Firefighters hose down the wreckage here.
Paris Under Water 1910, Paris, France
In January 1910 the Seine rose to 8.62 meters on the Austerlitz gauge, its peak on January 28. Water came up through sewers and subway tunnels, and Parisians crossed flooded streets by boat or on wooden walkways. This street was photographed on January 27.

Open Historidex Free, no account.