Ten Unusual and Weird Accidents

Let’s face it folks, each and every single one of us is scared of accidents. I, for one, haven’t experienced any major accident my entire life and I thank God for that. You might not be aware but the world experiences different accidents every single day and I am not talking about your everyday road accidents. I am talking about something on a much bigger scale, something that gives the word ‘weird’ a new definition. This article talks about the weirdest and the most bizarre accidents from around the world over the course of history. You do not expect these sort of things to happen every day or even once in a blue moon and that makes this article a very interesting one indeed.

10. PHILADELPHIA BOILER EXPLOSION

An experimental ‘train engine’ blew up in Philadelphia, County Durham, England. The year was 1815 and it was a four-wheel engine. Sixteen people were killed and this is recorded as the first major railway accident. You will not find a detailed account of this accident easily. Poor victims were the sightseers who were gathered to see the locomotive in action. The explosion left countless more injured.

9. BOUNCY CASTLE DISASTER

You are familiar with the concept I assume. Once, a bouncy castle filled with 30 people broke free and took off into the air. It is reported that the castle took off to an altitude of 50 feet, turned over travelled 150 feet and then fell to the ground. This resulted in injuring 13 people and killing two. This incident would have been so awesome if at all there were no deaths or injuries in fact, I very much would have loved to be a part of the entire incident. Air filled castles have been related with many incidents of the sorts but his one worthy of mentioning on this list.

8. DEATH OF LADY CONVENTRY

Maria Gunning, also known as Lady Coventry, was considered to be a beauty in her time. She spent a lot of her time applying white makeup and red rouge every day since that was the style of that day. Her husband however, did not like this and tried to stop her from using this make-up. Lady Coventry died at the age of 27 because she over used lead-based makeup. She would have probably been in a better place if she had listened to her husband.

7. NAPOLEON’S COUGH

It is said the Napoleon was suffering from a bad cough when he accidentally ordered the execution of 1,200 prisoners. It said that he said ‘Ma sacre toux’, which meant ‘my damn cough’, but the soldiers mistook it to be ‘massacre-tous’; that means ‘massacre all’. If this whole incident was proven to be true I would have put it on the number one spot but unfortunately there are many different stories regarding this particular incident.

6. LAKE PEIGNEUR ACCIDENT

This incident took place while drilling a salt mine beneath a ten-foot deep lake. The third level of the mine was accidentally pierced by the drill caused the lake to flow into the mine because of which the tiny hole started to expand. The inflow began to quicken and that resulted in a huge whirlpool which then sucked in the drilling platform, eleven barges and 65 acres of the surrounding terrain.

5. GOIANIA ACCIDENT

A radioactive contamination accident occurred in Goiania, Brazil on 13^th September, 1987. This is considered to be one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. It took place after an old nuclear medicine source was scavenged at an abandoned hospital. The source was handled by so many people who it ended up contaminating 249 people and resulted in four deaths. This contamination spread like wildfire; 130,000 people filled the hospitals, houses and to be destroyed and several sites had to be abandoned.

4. LONDON BEER FLOOD

This is something that doesn’t happen every day. A vat of beer at London’s Meux and Company Brewery cracked open on October 16^th, 1814. That resulted in 550,000 gallons of beer being poured out into the streets of London. The wave that was caused by these accidents destroyed two homes and crushed the wall of Tavistock Arms Pub. This brewery was located among the poor settlements of London. Eight people lost their lives in this unusual flood. The incident was declared to be the ‘act of God’.

3. THE BALL OF BURNING MEN

King Charles VI of France hosted a ball on January 28^th, 1393. His idea was to disguise himself and five other friends as savages. The men decided to cover themselves with feathers and pitch. Note here that the pitch is highly inflammable. They entered the ball chained together when a man approached them with a torch to get a better look. They caught fire immediately. The King was saved but two of his friends were burnt alive at the very moment while the others were severely injured. Two amongst the injured lost their lives soon after.

2. BOSTON MOLASSES DISASTER

A tank full of molasses exploded in Boston’s North End on 15^th January 1919. The explosion resulted in a shockwave that shook the foundation of the nearby houses. Metal shards were found 200 feet away from the explosion. The tank had 2.3 million gallons of molasses which is why a 25 to 30 feet wave of molasses was formed at the time of explosion.21 casualties occurred and another 150 were left injured because of this bizarre incident.

1. SIDOARJO MUD FLOW

PT Lapindo Brantas was drilling for gas in East Java, Indonesia in May, 2006 when they suddenly caused a volcano of mud to erupt. The flow continued for a very long time and by September that year the mud volcano had flooded rice paddies and villages. That left 11,000 people from eight different villages totally displaced. Twenty-five factories were shut-down and even fish and shrimp ponds were annihilated. Transportation and power had been cut off to the area. You must be surprised to know that the mud flow continues still at a rate of 100,000 m³per day. It is expected that the flow will continue for the next thirty years however the rate may decrease with time.

10 of the Oldest and Enchanting Castles in the World

We have all seen and been inspired by castles in so many movies, cartoons, and video games. It is something about those huge halls, and towers, and spires and the foreboding look that completely mesmerize us. There are many universities in the world that are built with such spacious architectures as those of castles. Remember seeing Harry potter and his friends studying Magic in the Hogwarts Castle? Wasn’t that totally spell binding (no pun intended), or perhaps you remember the various kinds of castles used in THE LORD OF THE RINGS! I bring to you that and so much more as I take you on a visit around the world to some of the oldest and most beautiful castles that are still standing. Being used as tourists spots today, these were once monumental to defence and thus they stand rock hard! Read on to find out more!

10. PRAGUE CASTLE, THE CZECH REPUBLIC

One of the most beautiful and breathtaking sights in Prague is the castle, touted and most famous because of being not only the largest but also one of the oldest castles in the world. The construction of the castle began as early as the ninth century and even if viewed in person today, one can see that the design of the castle reflects all kinds of architectures be it baroque, or Romanian, or even Gothic. Being 570 meters long and around 130 meters wide, this is a sight to behold.

9. CORFE CASTLE, ENGLAND

This particular castle is located on the Isle of Purbeck in the county of Dorset. If there ever was a castle that gave the impressions of a foreboding fortress, this would be it. Constructed initially in the 9th  century with more towers being added in the 11th century. The castle is known to have been a defence mechanism for the Romanians. It is widely known that the fortress was used as a prison as well as a storeroom for all the treasure. The mention of treasure gives it a more royal feel.

8. EILEAN PONAN CASTLE, SCOTLAND

This castle was initially built-in the 13th century to keep the vikings away. From the eighteenth to the twentieth century this castle was left to ruin with no maintenance what so ever despite this being the oldest most prominent castle in Scotland. It has been rebuilt four times and was finally open to public in 1932. Since then it has been visited by travellers from all around the world attracted to its ancient glory.

7. CONWY CASTLE, WALES

The iconic eight towers of this particular castle, which is now a part of World Heritage, present the iconic image of North Wales. It is known that Edward I spent a lot of money on its construction. Rumors say that around fifteen thousand pounds were spent in the 13th century (this means well over 200 million pounds today). The expenditures on this Welsh architecture makes it the most expensive of all castles made by Edward I and also the most prominent.

6. LOWENBURG CASTLE: DISNEY LAND OF THE 18TH CENTURY

This medieval castle that sits inside a park is considered the Disney Land of its time. The orders to build this castle came from Wilhelm IX who was famous for being the Walt Disney of his era. His chief architect was told to creat a romantic ruin for which the architect by the name of Heinrich Christoph Jussow (he was a royal court building inspector back in those days) went to England to study romantic ruins. To this date, this castle stands not only as the first neo-gothic building in Germany but also the most significant building of its own genre. Kudos to Mr Heinrich!

5. MALAHIDE CASTLE, IRELAND

This castle served as home to the Talbot family, and in-between it switched hands and went into the care of Miles Colbert but was restored back to the Talbot family. It is touted to be one of the oldest castles of Ireland.

4. HOHENWERFEN CASTLE, AUSTRIA

One look at the picture above and you will ne transported to an era that is 900 years old, which is exactly how old this castle is. Standing with all its glory and royalty on top of the Salzach mountains it gives the picture perfect idea of a defence fortress what with the tall towers and high windows. The good thing about this place is that it is now open to visitors all year round. So one can go visit and actually feel the glamour of a bygone era. Roam the halls and feel the power!

3. HUNYAD CASTLE: WHERE DRACULA WAS HELD

So we have all heard about Dracula and how he used to drink people’s blood, and how he had a castle of his own to live in where he slept within a coffin. Well the Hunyad castle that is depicted above, at one point belonged to the Hunyadi Dynasty.  The castle has seen a lot of neglect and quite a number of fires ruining its original architecture, an architecture that was then restored by modern architects who gave the castle a very gothic look. This is the same castle which has the honor of being called the Caste of Dracula. It is believed that he walked to tapestries and those halls once, in all his might. He maintained the castle as a prison.

2. NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE: THE PERFECT FAIRYTALE CASTLE

This is the castle that was the inspiration behind Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle and this American tourists are all well aware and quite fond of it as well. It is one of the three royal palaces that were built for Louis II of Bavaria and predictably lies in the Bavarian alps of Germany. The construction was initiated in 1869 and later stopped due to the death of Louis II. It is the epitome of a fairytale romance with towers and spires and over the top location. For its times, the facilities provided were quite modern, a heating systems for every floor, automated flushing in toilets etc. The picture above looks like a dream itself!

1. MONT SAINT-MICHEL: SMALL ISLAND

Situated near Brittany (which is totally separated from the mainland incase if a high tide that comes in a little too quickly), this castle was built-in 1880s. Providing the only link to the coast, the tourists are always warned to be careful because the tide comes in very quickly and a lot of tourists have drowned. It attracts more than four million tourists in a year which is a number higher than any other castle in France. This particular castle has been used in a lot of movies and cartoons. Most of the castles that are still standing these days were built primarily for defence purposes, this however was a monastery to begin with.