The 15 Most Devastating Non-Nuclear Explosions In History

On August 18, 1769, a lightning strike on the Bastion of San Nazaro in Brescia, Italy, ignited 90 tons of gunpowder killing 2500-3,000 people. An excerpt from the article:

"The 15 Most Devastating Non-Nuclear Explosions In History
Salim Farhat May 10, 2017 World

Explosions are one thing that we all can agree are awesome! When we all go to the movies they’re the main selling point of almost every action flick. Just ask Michael Bay… that man made his entire career from movies that explode the entire multiverse where every inhabitant in them is blown away in a fiery blaze of glory. All the while Vin Diesel is walking away and lighting a cigarette on the errant flames that just happen to waft by.

Explosions make movies so awesome that you can make an entire flick called ‘Explosion: the Movie’ with anthropomorphized explosions that just explode from sheer happiness and it will likely rake in the combined GDP of East Africa. The tagline could be ‘Come on! It’ll be a blast!’ or something equally cringe worthy.

But real explosions are anything but… they’re astonishingly loud, devastating and absolutely terrifying. To anyone who has had the misfortune of witnessing one, they are also rather ugly things to look at. Real explosions, however small, can turn buildings into rubble, shatter masonry, and turn people into a fine red mist that would need to be identified by DNA analysis rather than faces or other recognizable parts.

Thankfully, there are uses for explosives that don’t center on destroying things. The mining industry uses massive amounts of explosives in order to extract metals and minerals from the earth, and the wrecking industry also has a use for explosives in tearing down buildings to free up lots so that new buildings can be built.

Whatever they’re used for, explosions are still fascinating on such a primal level that we cannot help but be drawn to them. To quote J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atom bomb, ‘For I am become death, destroyer of worlds.’ He uttered this line when he witnessed the first ever nuclear explosion in New Mexico. However, we’re not going to talk about nuclear explosions, those are too easy. We’re also not going to mention accidental civilian explosions since those are as glamorous as a rotten steak. We’re going to focus our list entirely on deliberately detonated non-nuclear explosions, both from current times and the semi-distant past.

15.
SIEGE OF ANTWERP, 1585

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Gunpowder has been used in warfare longer than the 16th century, but it was in the 16th and early 17th century that gunpowder really took off as the main way armies fought each other. When they used explosives, they weren’t kidding around. The Fall of Antwerp in 1585 involved one of the biggest explosions in the world at the time (and it’s no small potatoes now). The Dutch wanted to take over a fortified bridge called Puente Farnesio that the Spanish built. They built four fire ships (a type of disposable ship they built, loaded with as much kaboom-juice as possible, and then set adrift while on fire… yeah, they weren’t messing around) and sent them towards the bridge.

The first ship went nowhere, the second got lost, the third apparently needed to stop and ask directions then just vanished… but the fourth one made it through and exploded right where it needed to. The ensuing blast was so massive that it not only utterly terminated the bridge, but it also killed 800 Spanish troops and sent debris flying for miles around. It created a miniature tsunami and the blast was so powerful that it was felt 35 kilometers away in the town of Ghent. When it shook windows and probably rustled more than one jimmy…

14.
BRESICA EXPLOSION, 1769

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So now we’re getting some serious explosive tragedy here. In 1769, the Bastion of San Nazaro in Brescia, Italy, was the home of thousands of people and 90 metric tons of black gunpowder. Now Mother Nature used to be the big boss of explosions with natural gas booms and volcanic eruptions. This simply wouldn’t do in Mother Nature’s view and so it saw fit to send down a lightning bolt directly to the Bastion holding the powder. The resulting explosion was less Michael Bay and more Hiroshima since it hurled boulder-sized rocks as far as one kilometer away and leveled 1/6 of the entire city. At least 2,500 people died.

This explosion was also pretty damn significant since it altered the Catholic Church’s view on lightning rods. Lightning rods were newfangled technology at the time invented by someone called Ben Franklin (I’m sure you’ve heard of him, he makes great beer!), but the Church originally saw them as interfering with God’s will. If he wanted to strike you with lightning then you’d better turn the other cheek after the first one has been fired. I’m guessing they drew the line at 2,500 cheeks needing to be turned."