The winter of 1888 had been exceptionally mild — until a blizzard struck suddenly, changing the face of New York City and most of the eastern coast of the United States forever. It was the deadliest winter storm in U.S. history. They called it, "The Great White Hurricane."
During the civil war, the manufacture of powder and explosives was often handled by the most vulnerable, young women and children, whose labor was needed when so many men had been sent off to war. On March 13, 1863, the confederacy experienced a munitions disaster, in the confederate capitol of Richmond.