During a violent thunderstorm over Williamsburg on Long Island, New York, a lightning strike on the chimney of the Lawrence and Sons Cordage Factory in the town somehow caused a boiler explosion. The explosion of two of four boilers killed the attendant, smashed metal over 600 feet, and started a fire that partly destroyed the factory's two multi-story buildings. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
"Explosion in Williamsburg," Harper's Weekly Magazine, August 4, 1866, p. 493.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Crime/Disasters
