I just watched this on "Mysteries at the Museum" show on the Travel Channel. love that show. However, I wanted to learn more about this. First time hearing about this story. Thank you Sir for bring this story to light. Excellent narrating. Though, 30,000 people perished. This sadden me because that a whole chuck of mankind died. Luckily this man survived, and thanks to Barnum Bailey for giving him a job.
@brianlindstrom10449 жыл бұрын
another fantastically interesting video great job
@atlasobscura9 жыл бұрын
+Brian Lindstrom Thank you! I love this story!
@TheDevilHydraProdsXXII7 жыл бұрын
Atlas Obscura you do realize 2 people survived not 1
@ashleyrene827 жыл бұрын
Psychopath Productions Actually more than that. That's just what Wikipedia says. I don't trust web pages that the public can edit. Just one source either. But you're right, there was more than one.
@TheDevilHydraProdsXXII7 жыл бұрын
Ashley G i read a disaster book as well, it was a guy in his house and the one in the prison cell
@ashleyrene827 жыл бұрын
Psychopath Productions Nice! I watched a documentary done on it. Technically, by what they had covered and stated (believe them or not, I don't bet my life on it X'D), that there were many survivors and burn victims rescued. Just not in the heart of the city where the pyroclastic flow was strongest. That's technicality nit picking there though. I used to live in a very small town called Coalville. It was attached to another tiny town by another basically making it three in one. But if an avalanche hit Coalville and wiped out everyone _currently_ there, some people would have survived having commuted to work in the neighboring town. That's kind of the case here. Lol. XD
@texaslonestarrider9 жыл бұрын
Interesting Story, Well Done, And Thanks For Sharing!
@atlasobscura9 жыл бұрын
Thanks +lonestarrider! Glad you liked it! There is a bunch of stuff I didn't have time to get into, like how the disaster kind of kick started modern vulcanology, etc. Such a good story!
@manukenkun9 жыл бұрын
Nice shirt change! Every one of these videos is a joy.
@atlasobscura9 жыл бұрын
Thanks +manukenkun Ha, my wardrobe budget is EXTENSIVE. Blue shirts, black shirts you. I have them both.
@esmeraldagreen19926 жыл бұрын
Did anybody notice that the volcano was called Pele, like the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes even though Martinique is in the Caribbean sea.
@needforf16753 жыл бұрын
Caribbean and hawaii are the But st lucia Still number one honeymoon so
@chrislong39383 жыл бұрын
@@needforf1675 What?
@chrislong39383 жыл бұрын
It's a French word and Hawaii, along with Polynesia were colonized by the French.
@needforf16753 жыл бұрын
@@chrislong3938 Yeah sorry i don't know what 5 months ago me trying to say
@chrislong39383 жыл бұрын
@@needforf1675 Heh...! No worries, man! I have a hard time remembering last week, so don't feel bad! ;-) I don't know where you are but stay cool or stay warm as the situation warrants! In other words, have a great one!
@tacoface70479 жыл бұрын
2:40 Jaime Foxx err wut?
@Lewisabet88 жыл бұрын
Aside from your very interesting and amusing content, I actually find you so HANDSOME! Did someone already tell you this Sir? Haha You are one of my favorite youtubers.
@atlasobscura8 жыл бұрын
Why thank you, I'm blushing!
@juliesnow49177 жыл бұрын
Urshanabi McGarden
@johnny2516968 жыл бұрын
Damn love all your videos so far. Your videos give me the same feeling when I was in history class it was my favorite class's during all my school years and these videos give me a blast from the past
@JohnDoe-gx7rn3 жыл бұрын
I'll keep them coming ,J. Hernandez thank you .
@uncleruckus39302 жыл бұрын
This channel is so underrated
@MrJRR673 жыл бұрын
Think there was Two people that survived... Great info
@jt2gtr8 жыл бұрын
Hi thx for the vids and great historical pics ! But the name is Louis Auguste Cyparis...
@iamnoone3488 жыл бұрын
So it's basically like pompeii?
@jewelmarkess5 жыл бұрын
Except this was early 20th century, so people should've known better, especially the governor who was more worried about the election.
@wildlifeisthewealthofnatur54572 жыл бұрын
@@jewelmarkess Pelee was highly underestimated just like la Palma now.
@pieskatecrew9 жыл бұрын
very cool
@kinmachado54749 жыл бұрын
Cool story
@anonb46326 жыл бұрын
"To travel the country" - Martinique?
@danram2473 жыл бұрын
Reminds me of The Wolverine movie nuke bomb scene...
@thatguywiththetripod85777 жыл бұрын
Love your video's except the beginning of them. You talk a little bit of the topic and a title card then you talk a little more and another title card appears. Couldn't you edit them together into one title card? It gives your video's a weird pace at the beginning. Besides that awesome and wonderful job on your video's man!!!
@pauldourlet2 жыл бұрын
The story is even more interesting. Some corrections though. Mount Pelee was not one of the most active volcanoes, it had erupted in the mid-1800s -a mild eruption..,, and was quiet until April of 1902. It started erupting. There were signs the mountain was going to have a violent eruption, but these signs were ignored because there was little information at the time. .However, when a river is flowing down a volcano -and the water becomes hot . Logic would indicate something big was going on. Things were made worse by the fact that there was an election coming up, this election who would determine whom would represent the island in the Frech Parliament in Paris. Would it be a white from the Plantation Class or a Black from the lower classes ? The Editor of the City's Newspaper ran a fake interview with "a Volcano expert" to reassure the population they were safe. During this time an Italian Captain of a ship, who was from Naples, watched the eruption with increasing anxiety. He decided it was not safe . Without taking on all the cargo he was supposed to he left . The Harbormaster tried to stop him but was unable to. The Captain stated I am from Naples, and if Vesuvius was acting the way Pelee was I would flee for my life. Mount Pelee claimed lives before the main event. A dam holding a lake high up on the side of Pelee broke, a slurry of hot mud( a Lahar ) raced down the mountain and killed up to 200 people at a sugar refinery . The mud continued to the ocean causing a small Tsunami. There are reports that Guard troops on the night before the eruption at Bayonet point kept people who wanted to leave the City for the all-important election . The Governor of the Island and his wife had come to the City of Saint Pierre from the island's Capitol Fort De France to reassure the populace . Just before 8 am on the morning of May 8th, the Telegraph Operator in Saint Pierre sent a message over the newly repaired cable -"Allez "-it was the last communication from Saint Pierre. There was an earthquake and a cloud of Volcanic ash in what is called a Plinian eruption- blasted up and out of Mount Pelee at supersonic speed high up into the atmosphere . .This cloud was visible at the Capitol Fort De France 30 miles away.---and on other islands nearby The sky got dark around St.Pierre .The side of the mountain gave away and a Cloud blasted out of the side of the top of the mountain . The cloud was both black and red, a glowing cloud. This was a Pyroclastic Flow, it moved up to 480 miles per hour. This was observed by people gathered over looking the City on high ridges -(one of them a Plantation owner Ferdinand Le Clerc who was running in the election -he had argued for the evacuation of the City )The fact the cloud was glowing lent its name to the French phrase for a Pyroclastic Flow -a Nuee Ardente -a glowing cloud. The cloud was 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. The cloud hugged the ground People in the main blast zone, out in the open- were turned to Charcoal.--at least those whose bodies were not buried under tons of rubble. More than 30,000 people had been killed because refugees from outside the City had gone there for safety. After the eruption, there were 2 more eruptions, both lateral blasts that hit Saint Pierre, one of them killed 2000 workers who were clearing rubble, the 2nd eruption was photographed at a distance by a lucky photographer. In the months after May 8th, the reason for the violent lateral blasts became evident. A huge volcanic Spine of rock rose at the rate of 30 feet a day in the crater of Mount Pelee . It reached a height over a thousand feet before collapsing. This was the Volcanic Plug in the throat of Mount Pelee that caused the lateral blasts . In 1980 a Volcanic Plug in Mount Saint Helens would cause the side of that mountain to swell and then cause the side of the mountain to collapse in a landslide . The Pyroclastic Flow went 18 miles at speeds over 500 miles per hour. There was another survivor, a shoemaker whose house was outside the main blast zone, he too was badly burned. Ships that were anchored off the shore a good distance also had survivors. A Captain of one of these ships managed to get his ship underway and arrived at one of the nearby islands. Hailed by the Harbormaster where he had come from the Ship's Captain replied "From Hell."-flesh on the Ship's Captain's forearm had been burned away down to the bone. Hope you found this interesting.
@barbarabrathwaite99163 жыл бұрын
i heard about this eruption as a child this man was truly save by the grace of God
@TheDevilHydraProdsXXII3 жыл бұрын
Actually, three people survived the whole eruption, not one
@aaronsmith34843 жыл бұрын
More than three if you include survivors that were on boats and people at the edge of the city but I guess you can say this guy was the only survivor in the main blast zone.
@danwaltz3154 жыл бұрын
he was a very lucky man not to get burnt up like everybody else.
@blackwhite36286 жыл бұрын
He must've turned teetotaller.
@headpain9 жыл бұрын
I like your videos.
@atlasobscura9 жыл бұрын
Thanks +Thomas Kardos!
@colemarie92624 жыл бұрын
The middle three frames of the eruption at 1:07 look like a huge terrifying face. Had I witnessed that monstrosity in person, I'd probably start praying to whatever diety that resembles....no atheists in foxholes and all that lol
@senorcreepypasta31267 жыл бұрын
Is that Jamie Fox?
@onehitwarrior17085 жыл бұрын
Lets build a city by a volcano, what can go wrong.
@jewelmarkess5 жыл бұрын
There are plenty of volcanos on earth. There are places which are vulnerable to hurricane or tornados. You cannot find a 100% safe place anywhere. The trick is to leave in time. There were zillion warnings about St Pierre, it was giving zillion signs. It was erupting for a month, they couldn't even sleep because of the noise. The governor had elections coming, so he convinced himself and the inhabitants that all is safe.
@marrqi7wini543 жыл бұрын
0:57 to 1:07
@segura21128 ай бұрын
People have done that all over the world like Naples Italy (that's the only one I can think of right now).
@berryberrykixx8 жыл бұрын
Do you have a story on the man who survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki's atomic bombings?
@atlasobscura8 жыл бұрын
+Chelsea Older I don't but I know who you speak of! Talk about surviving Doomsday!
@berryberrykixx8 жыл бұрын
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Yamaguchi
@tarexmuru23432 жыл бұрын
Mr.Ballen.
@LindaMerchant-bq2hp2 ай бұрын
More like st.pierre, was the pompeii of the carribean
@casper53114 жыл бұрын
wdum I survived too
@theunknownproguy63273 жыл бұрын
Hmmm that sus
@TheMuffinpumperkale8 жыл бұрын
He is so cute, you only HAVE to subscribe if he askes for it :D but, I probably would have anyway
@atlasobscura8 жыл бұрын
+TheMuffinpumperkale Why thank you!
@getjeffrey9 жыл бұрын
⁉
@cheyenneluckyseven2 жыл бұрын
How do you know he was a drunk? Who cares. Important thing is he survived
@keithlightminder300511 күн бұрын
Okay, now do some research of any two descendants who are remotely famous and do an ancestry “who do you think you are” type video looking for any similar curse turned blessing angle in their lives.