4. Kaiser Wilhelm’s Saboteurs Almost Blew Up the Statue of Liberty
Visitors used to be able to go up to the Statue of Liberty’s torch, but today, they can only go as high as the crown, thanks to WWI German agents. Their target was Black Tom Island, a major munitions depot back then, in New York Harbor, just off the New Jersey shore. When WWI started, the island’s warehouses could barely keep up with the combatant’s orders for munitions. Both sides could technically buy American munitions, but only the Entente, whose navies controlled the seas, could transport them. So Germans agents were sent to do something about that.
On the night of July 30th, 1916, Black Tom Island had about two million pounds of munitions in freight trains and barges. Shortly after midnight, guards noticed a series of small fires on the piers, and took to their heels, fearing an explosion. At 2:08 AM, a massive explosion hurtled debris for over a mile, shattered windows up to 25 miles away, and caused about half a billion dollars in damages. The actual death toll is unknown, as there were many housing barges nearby, and many victims are thought to have been incinerated. The blast and debris struck the Statue of Liberty, popping rivets in its upraised arm holding the torch, and that part of the statue has been closed to the public ever since.
