On June 19, 1926, the citizens of New York suddenly found themselves under violent attack by enemy aircraft. Smoke billowed downtown as aircraft fought a desperate dogfight over the startled city.
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.