LZ 129 Hindenburg
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
The LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German airship called a Zeppelin. It, along it another Zeppelin, LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin were the biggest airship in the world at the time they were built in 1936. The Zeppelin gained lots of publicly and became really famous, the boxer Max Schmeling rode on it back to Germany after defeating Joe Louis in the United States and it was present at the 1936 Olympics which were held in Berlin during the opening ceremony. This attention, was all part of the Zeppelin companies plan to offer a fleet of thier airships for trans-atlantic service. On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg was landing in New Jersey after a trans-atlantic flight, when it burst into flames. 36 people died and many were injured. Many people think it did this, because it was filled with a gas called hydrogen which can catch on fire easily. An announcer, Herbert Morrison reported the landing and than screamed and said, "Oh the humanity" after it caught on fire. Morrison's line is now famous around the world as well as photos and film footage of the disater. The rock group, Led Zeppelin used a picture of the fire for cover of their first album.