Black Tom explosion

Black Tom explosion
Black Tom explosion
Part of United States entry into World War I
	Black Tom pier shortly after the explosion
Location	Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Coordinates	40°41′32″N 74°03′20″W / 40.69222°N 74.05556°W
Date	July 30, 1916 ; 2:08:00 a.m. (EST; GMT−5)
Attack type	Sabotage; State-sponsored terrorism
Deaths	4–7
Injured	+100
Perpetrators	Imperial German agents Kurt Jahnke; Lothar Witzke; Michael Kristoff (alleged);
Motive	Sabotage

The Black Tom explosion was an act of sabotage by agents of the German Empire, to destroy U.S.-made munitions that were to be supplied to the Allies in World War I. The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in New York Harbor, killed at least four people and destroyed some $20,000,000 ($560 million in 2024 dollars) worth of military goods.^[1]^[2] This incident, which happened prior to U.S. entry into World War I, also damaged the Statue of Liberty.^[3] It was one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions in history.

^ "A Byte out of FBI history". Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 30, 2004. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
^ "Long: Terrorism's 100th anniversary | Commentary | roanoke.com". May 1, 2021. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
^ Warner, Michael (April 14, 2007). "The Kaiser Sows Destruction: Protecting the Homeland the First Time Around". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2021.