Sonman Mine Explosion
   HOME
*





Sonman Mine Explosion
The Sonman Mine Explosion occurred on July 15, 1940, at the Sonman Shaft Coal Co. in Portage Township, near Portage, Pennsylvania, in the United States. 63 miners died out of the estimated 90 trapped in the mine after the initial explosion. The explosion was centered in a section of the slope called the Right No. 16 heading. The rescue effort was hampered by the deadly methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ... gas which was presumed to have filled the chamber. A memorial to the miners who died in the explosion was commissioned and originally placed in the UMWA Hall in Jamestown, Pennsylvania. In 1960, The memorial was relocated to the Crichton-McCormick Park in Portage. The Portage Station Museum offers a documentary about the disaster titled "63 Men Down - ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Portage Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Portage Township is a township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It surrounds the borough of Portage. The township population was 3,640 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The stone-arch Bridge in Portage Township was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The Sonman Mine explosion occurred here in 1940, killing 63 coal miners. Geography Portage Township is located in southeastern Cambria County around the coordinates . The township surrounds the borough of Portage and touches the borough of Cassandra on its northeast border. The unincorporated community of Spring Hill is in the southwest part of the township, just south of Portage borough. The southeast border of the township follows the Blair County line and approximately follows the crest of the Allegheny Front, the height of land between the Susquehanna River basin to the east and the Ohio River drainage to the west. The Lit ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Portage, Pennsylvania
Portage is a borough with home rule status in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is southeast of Ebensburg and southwest of Altoona. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,638 at the 2010 US census. History The history of Portage as a community began with the building and opening of the Allegheny-Portage Railroad (APRR) in 1834. Due to its location on the APRR, Portage was originally called “Foot of Two” as it was the located at the bottom of Inclined Plane No. 2. The APRR would build their headquarters a few hundred feet west of the foot (bottom) of Plane No. 2. The headquarters consisted of offices and a shop complex. Also near the foot of the incline was the Washington House Hotel that served as a place to stay for travelers. “Foot of Two” was eventually renamed “Portage.” The definition of portage is: ''carrying boats, goods, etc., overland from one body of water to another'' Today, Penns ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Earth makes it an economically attractive fuel, although capturing and storing it poses technical challenges due to its gaseous state under normal conditions for temperature and pressure. Naturally occurring methane is found both below ground and under the seafloor and is formed by both geological and biological processes. The largest reservoir of methane is under the seafloor in the form of methane clathrates. When methane reaches the surface and the atmosphere, it is known as atmospheric methane. The Earth's atmospheric methane concentration has increased by about 150% since 1750, and it accounts for 20% of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases. It has also been detected on other plane ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

United Mine Workers Of America
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada. Although its main focus has always been on workers and their rights, the UMW of today also advocates for better roads, schools, and universal health care. By 2014, coal mining had largely shifted to open pit mines in Wyoming, and there were only 60,000 active coal miners. The UMW was left with 35,000 members, of whom 20,000 were coal miners, chiefly in underground mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. However it was responsible for pensions and medical benefits for 40,000 retired miners, and for 50,000 spouses and dependents. The UMW was founded in Columbus, Ohio, on January 25, 1890, with the merger of two old labor groups, the Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Jamestown, Pennsylvania
Jamestown is a borough in northwestern Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Shenango River. The population was reported as 580 on the 2020 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. History The town was founded in 1798 by James Campbell. The borough was incorporated in 1853. The Jamestown area is served by the Jamestown Area School District, and is home to Combined Systems, Inc., a tactical weapons producer that exports tear gas and smoke grenades. The Gibson House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The 215 Restaurant has become one of the more known places to dine bringing a different flair to the area that most would have to travel further for. Pymatuning Deer Park has become quite the tourist attraction bringing a zoo like experience with a small petting zoo and interactive bird cage. Jamestown Coating Technologies employs a large amount of locals and distributes high quality paints, powder coats and m ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Cambria County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,472. Its county seat is Ebensburg. The county was created on March 26, 1804, from parts of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Somerset Counties and later organized in 1807. It was named for the nation of Wales, which in Latin is known as "Cambria". Cambria County comprises the Johnstown, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Johnstown-Somerset, PA Combined Statistical Area. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.8%) is water. Cambria has a warm-summer humid continental climate (''Dfb'') and average monthly temperatures in downtown Johnstown range from 27.8 °F in January to 71.0 °F in July, while in Ebensburg they range from 23.9 °F in January to 67.7 °F in JulyPRISM Climate Group, Oregon State U Adjacent counties *Clearfield County (north) * Blair County (east) ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Coal Mining Disasters In Pennsylvania
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead plant matter decays into peat and is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. Vast deposits of coal originate in former wetlands called coal forests that covered much of the Earth's tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous ( Pennsylvanian) and Permian times. Many significant coal deposits are younger than this and originate from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Coal is used primarily as a fuel. While coal has been known and used for thousands of years, its usage was limited until the Industrial Revolution. With the invention of the steam engine, coal consumption increased. In 2020, coal supplied about a quarter of the world's primary energy and over a third of its electricity. Some iron a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


1940 Mining Disasters
Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 194 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus and Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Caesar become Roman Consuls. * Battle of Issus: Septimius Severus marches with his army (12 legions) to Cilicia, and defeats Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria. Pescennius retreats to Antioch, and is executed by Severus' troops. * Septimius Severus besieges Byzantium (194–196); the city walls suffer extensive damage. Asia * Battle of Yan Province: Warlords Cao Cao and Lü Bu fight for control over Yan Province; the battle lasts for over 100 day ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


1940 In Pennsylvania
Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 194 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus and Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Caesar become Roman Consuls. * Battle of Issus: Septimius Severus marches with his army (12 legions) to Cilicia, and defeats Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria. Pescennius retreats to Antioch, and is executed by Severus' troops. * Septimius Severus besieges Byzantium (194–196); the city walls suffer extensive damage. Asia * Battle of Yan Province: Warlords Cao Cao and Lü Bu fight for control over Yan Province; the battle lasts for over 100 day ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




1940 Disasters In The United States
Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 194 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus and Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Caesar become Roman Consuls. * Battle of Issus: Septimius Severus marches with his army (12 legions) to Cilicia, and defeats Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria. Pescennius retreats to Antioch, and is executed by Severus' troops. * Septimius Severus besieges Byzantium (194–196); the city walls suffer extensive damage. Asia * Battle of Yan Province: Warlords Cao Cao and Lü Bu fight for control over Yan Province; the battle lasts for over 1 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]