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On a related note, shells fired during WWI are still killing people today. Hell of a thing, to fire a weapon and kill someone a hundred years later. http://www

On a related note, shells fired during WWI are still killing people today. Hell of a thing, to fire a weapon and kill someone a hundred years later. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26654314 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26654314

Alupis 12y ago
Not terribly uncommon. Landmines and the like are still scattered all around many parts of the planet. And, just a few years ago near where I live in CA, a train exploded due to long buried WW2 munitions (a train had derailed at some point in a rainstorm and a great number of warheads got buried in the mud).
monksy 12y ago
This is a fairly common thing. Parts of Tegal airport were dug up recently to detonate unexploded ordinance, its found fairly frequently in Germany.
- smacktoward 12y ago
  It happens in the US too, occasionally. The campus of my alma mater, along with a good chunk of the surrounding neighborhood, was taken over by the U.S. Army during both World Wars and used as an artillery range and, during World War I, a chemical weapons development center. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_American_University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_American_University) As a result, even up to the mid-1990s, when I was there, it was not unusual to see a block or two closed off periodically because someone digging had found unexploded ordnance there. And due to the chemical weapons work, these discoveries were more disconcerting than usual, because who knew if it was just a standard high-explosive shell or something loaded with mustard gas, or worse?
patio11 12y ago
The most recent casualty of the U.S. Civil War lived to see Obama voted into office. He is unlikely to be the last. UXO is a hell of a thing.
- cbd1984 12y ago
  The last Civil War veteran died in 1956; the last to have seen combat died in 1953. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hard And the last Revolutionary War veteran died in 1866. (The year after our Civil War ended, in case you don't know much American history.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook
  - Figs 12y ago
    They're talking about unexploded ordnance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordinance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordinance I don't know if there's a more recent example of Civil War UXO causing injuries, but here's a news article about a man killed in February 2008: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-in-civil-war-cannonball-blast/ http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-...
    - patio11 12y ago
      That is the incident I was thinking of, although I seem to have misremembered the date of it.
    - cbd1984 12y ago
      And I was providing context.
- cbd1984 12y ago
  Because someone hid my last comment by mistake: The last Civil War veteran died in 1956; the last to have seen combat died in 1953. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hard And the last Revolutionary War veteran died in 1866. (The year after our Civil War ended, in case you don't know much American history.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook
parados 12y ago
And WWII aerial photographs are still used to find unexploded weapons: http://ncap.org.uk/case-studies/explosive-ordnance-disposal http://ncap.org.uk/case-studies/explosive-ordnance-disposal Quite something to take a photograph 70 years ago that saves a life today.

Alupis 12y ago

Not terribly uncommon. Landmines and the like are still scattered all around many parts of the planet. And, just a few years ago near where I live in CA, a train exploded due to long buried WW2 munitions (a train had derailed at some point in a rainstorm and a great number of warheads got buried in the mud).

monksy 12y ago

This is a fairly common thing. Parts of Tegal airport were dug up recently to detonate unexploded ordinance, its found fairly frequently in Germany.

smacktoward 12y ago
It happens in the US too, occasionally. The campus of my alma mater, along with a good chunk of the surrounding neighborhood, was taken over by the U.S. Army during both World Wars and used as an artillery range and, during World War I, a chemical weapons development center. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_American_University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_American_University) As a result, even up to the mid-1990s, when I was there, it was not unusual to see a block or two closed off periodically because someone digging had found unexploded ordnance there. And due to the chemical weapons work, these discoveries were more disconcerting than usual, because who knew if it was just a standard high-explosive shell or something loaded with mustard gas, or worse?

patio11 12y ago

The most recent casualty of the U.S. Civil War lived to see Obama voted into office. He is unlikely to be the last. UXO is a hell of a thing.

cbd1984 12y ago
The last Civil War veteran died in 1956; the last to have seen combat died in 1953. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hard And the last Revolutionary War veteran died in 1866. (The year after our Civil War ended, in case you don't know much American history.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook
- Figs 12y ago
  They're talking about unexploded ordnance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordinance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordinance I don't know if there's a more recent example of Civil War UXO causing injuries, but here's a news article about a man killed in February 2008: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-in-civil-war-cannonball-blast/ http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-...
  - patio11 12y ago
    That is the incident I was thinking of, although I seem to have misremembered the date of it.
  - cbd1984 12y ago
    And I was providing context.
cbd1984 12y ago
Because someone hid my last comment by mistake: The last Civil War veteran died in 1956; the last to have seen combat died in 1953. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hard And the last Revolutionary War veteran died in 1866. (The year after our Civil War ended, in case you don't know much American history.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Cook

parados 12y ago

And WWII aerial photographs are still used to find unexploded weapons: http://ncap.org.uk/case-studies/explosive-ordnance-disposal http://ncap.org.uk/case-studies/explosive-ordnance-disposal Quite something to take a photograph 70 years ago that saves a life today.