Black Tom Closed Liberty's Torch

In 1916, Imperial German agents detonated US-made munitions awaiting shipment to the Allies at Black Tom, a depot in New York Harbor beside Jersey City. The blast killed at least seven people, wounded hundreds, and destroyed about $20 million in military goods, equivalent to $590 million in 2025. It ranked among history's largest artificial non-nuclear explosions and damaged the Statue of Liberty's torch-bearing arm. Officials closed the narrow ascent to the torch for safety, and it has remained closed to the public ever since.

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