This Day in History: The Hindenburg Disaster

This Day in History: , The Hindenburg Disaster.

May 6, 1937.

36 passengers and crew members were killed when the Hindenburg exploded as it touched its mooring mast in Lakehurst, NJ.

The luxury passenger zeppelin had left Frankfurt, Germany, three days earlier.

Constructed in Nazi Germany, the 804 foot-long Hindenburg was the largest dirigible ever built.

The zeppelin was lifted by the highly flammable gas, hydrogen.

It is thought the cause of the explosion was a spark that ignited the dirigible's hydrogen core.

Radio announcer Herb Morrison witnessed the disaster live, famously declaring, "Oh the humanity!".

His commentary became part of America's first coast-to-coast radio news broadcast.

Passenger travel by zeppelin never recovered after the disaster