This Day in History: The Delft Explosion, also known in history as the Delft Thunderclap, occurred on this day 1654. Delft is a city in the province of South Holland, Netherlands, and in 1654 a gunpowder store in the city exploded, destroying much of the city, killing over 100 people and injuring thousands.
About 30 tonnes of gunpowder were stored in barrels in a magazine (a place where ammunition and explosives are stored) in a former Clarist convent in the Doelenkwartier district, where the Paardenmarkt is now located. Cornelis Soetens, the keeper of the magazine, opened the store to check a sample of the powder and a huge explosion followed. Luckily, many citizens were away, visiting a market in Schiedam or a fair in The Hague.
Today, the explosion is primarily remembered for killing Rembrandt's most promising pupil, Carel Fabritius, and destroying almost all of his works.
Delft artist Egbert van der Poel painted several pictures of Delft showing the devastation.
The gunpowder store was subsequently re-housed, a 'cannonball's distance away', outside the city.
There was another major gunpowder explosion in Leiden, Netherlands on January 12, 1807 that killed 150 people.
No comments:
Post a Comment