he Oppau Explosion occurred on September 21, 1921, when a tower silo storing 4,500 tonnes of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded at a BASF plant in Oppau, Germany, killing over 500 people and injuring thousands more.

On October 2, 1942, the famed U.S. Navy troop carrier, The Queen Mary, was being escorted across the Atlantic by the HMS Curacoa and others when the Queen Mary performed a zig zag maneuver, putting her on a collision course with the Curacoa. The ensuing disaster killed 338 sailors and changed...