May 6th 1937; the German airship Hindenburg crashed and burned in Lakehurst, NJ. Thirty-six people (of the 97 on board) were killed.

The airship pulled up to its mooring post, let down its ropes to the ground crew, and at that point something went horribly wrong. A fire started near the tail and ignited the rest of the hydrogen in the ship very quickly. The gigantic fire ball was captured on film (both motion picture film and stills), and this is another reason why this disaster was so important. The explosion and aftermath were completely amazing, and people could see it actually happen on film.

The third reason for the resonance of the Hindenburg disaster has to do with the "mystery" that surrounded the explosion. No one knows exactly why the fire started. But there was (and still is) a huge amount of speculation.