ONE MINUTE HISTORY - November 12, 2022

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Published on November 12, 2022 5:37:06 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Bubei_cuA

Duration: 1:00

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On this day, the world’s most infamous whale removal took its doomed course. On November 12, 1970, in Florence, Oregon, the Oregon Highway Division removed the corpse of a beached sperm whale using half a ton of dynamite. After the dead whale washed up on the beach and began emitting a terrible stench, George Thornton, the engineer in charge of the operation, concluded that the 45 foot long corpse could not be buried and chose to blow it up instead. Unfortunately, Thornton had no idea how much dynamite to use, so he used roughly 100 times the actual necessary amount. According to Paul Linnman, the news reporter at the scene, the resulting “blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds.” One car was heavily damaged by a large chunk of falling whale, and all of the spectators were covered in a heavy coat of stinking, rotting giblets. All in all, everyone involved had a whale of a time!