logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2022
45m 29s

The Bowery Boys and the Black Tom Explos...

Pushkin Industries
About this episode

Cautionary Tales returns next week, but in the meantime enjoy a story of disaster from The Bowery Boys Podcast. 

It's July 30th 1916, just after 2am, and a massive explosion rips apart the munitions depot on Black Tom, an island off Jersey City. Tons of debris and jagged shrapnel pepper neighboring Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Thousands of windows across New York are shattered, and millions of residents are awoken wondering what had just happened. Was it an accident or German sabotage? 

The Bowery Boys is show about the people and events that have shaped the history of New York City, and really, shaped America.

Listen to more episodes of The Bowery Boys at https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/bowery-boys-first/bowery-boys-podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Yesterday
Talent, Time and Money: The Curse of General Magic
It's 1990. A new company called General Magic is going to build its vision of the future: the smart phone. They have talent, almost unlimited cash, and a 15 year head start on the iPhone. What could go wrong? This episode was based, with permission, on David Epstein's book Inside ... Show More
38m 36s
Sep 4
Evel Knievel Faces the Abyss
Evel Knievel, the world-famous daredevil, is planning his greatest ever stunt. In 1974, he wants to leap over Snake River Canyon in Idaho. The chasm is almost a third of a mile wide, much bigger than any jump he's done before. To make it work, he'll need a custom-made rocket-powe ... Show More
40m 22s
Aug 28
Dumm und Dümmer: Hitler Invades Florida
In 1942, eight men are sent from Nazi Germany to infiltrate America. Their mission: to sabotage critical infrastructure. Their problem: they're idiots. Operation Pastorius soon devolves into one of the most baffling failures of World War II. For a list of sources, see the show no ... Show More
39m 19s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2021
The Bowery Boys and the Shirtwaist Strike of 1909
Greg Young and Tom Meyers, of The Bowery Boys New York City History podcast, share their 2020 coverage of early 1900s women's protests that were tied to the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 
1 h
Sep 2024
History Daily: The Wall Street Bombing
September 16, 1920. A horse-drawn wagon explodes in the middle of New York’s financial district, killing 30 people.You can listen ad-free in the Wondery or Amazon Music app. Or for all that and more, go to IntoHistory.com.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go ... Show More
16m 40s
Jan 2018
E78: Wall Street Bombings
On September 16, 1920, an explosion went off at 23 Wall Street, killing 38 people and injuring hundreds more. But no one knew who set off the bomb, or why. We explore the political and financial turmoil that may have inspired the attack, and we look into the man who warned New Yo ... Show More
42m 8s
Feb 2022
Introducing: Love Thy Neighbor
Thirty years ago, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, a car accident set off four days of unrest. Two people died. Dozens were injured. Hundreds were arrested. In this Pineapple Street Studios series, journalist Collier Meyerson explores what came to be known as the “C ... Show More
3m 22s
Mar 2025
1. The Attack That Shook America: German Spies in New York (Ep 1)
New York, 1916. America is supposedly neutral in the war but they are shipping huge quantities of supplies to the allies. However, it being a nation of immigrants means loyalties across the United States are divided and members of the German-American community are causing trouble ... Show More
47m 37s
Sep 2022
SYMHC Classics: General Slocum Disaster
This 2019 episode covers the burning of the P.S. General Slocum in the East River in New York on June 15, 1904. It had been chartered for a group outing that suddenly became a deadly maritime disaster.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
30m 36s
Jul 2019
Tempest in a Teacup
Bohea, the aroma of tire fire, Mob Wives, smugglers, “bro” tea, and what it all means to the backstory of the American Revolution. Malcolm tells the real story on what happened in Boston on the night of December 16, 1773. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodc ... Show More
35m 9s
Jun 2023
Episode 533: The Manhattan Project Part I - The Living Dead
<p>This week the boys return to the world of dark history with the introduction to one of the most devastatingly deadly killers in human history... It's time for The Manhattan Project and the creation of the Atom Bomb.</p> <p><p><strong>For Live Shows, Merch, and More Visit: </st ... Show More
2h 8m
Aug 2023
360. Fear City: New York in the 1970s
“A cloud of black, acrid smoke hung over the area. It was a scene from a warzone, a battlefield - it was a scene from the end of the world…” New York in the 1970s was a city decimated by economic stagnation, unemployment and ever-rising crime rates, haemorrhaging its population t ... Show More
54m 6s