the Hindenburg Disaster
Airships used to be the luxury way to travel if not for one of the most famous disasters of all time. Here’s where we admit that we don’t know exactly what the mistake was. Some people still suspect sabotage, but the generally accepted notion today is that static build-up and discharge is what ignited the hydrogen in the Hindenburg on May 6, 1937. Others say docking mistakes were made, too. All we know is that it wasn’t supposed to happen, and the subsequent explosion and loss of 36 lives more or less marked the end of the airship era.