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On This Day in 1857, the S.S. Central America (formerly the S.S. George Law) sank off the East Coast of the Carolinas during a Hurricane, taking approximately 425 souls with her, while about 166 were saved. Called sometimes nowadays, the "Titanic" disaster of the Nineteenth Century, there are more unbelievable occurrences connected with this event than any fiction writer would dare to attempt to include in any dozen books or stories!

Most of the passengers on board were returning to the East Coast from the California Gold Fields during the peak of the Gold Rush era, and included besides miners, notable men of commerce, trade, transportation and even entertainment along with a few of their wives and children. Because the Steam Ship was a U.S. Mail Steam Packet, it was required to be Captained by a U.S. Naval Officer, even though the vessel was owned by a private shipping concern. The captain in command was Lt. William Lewis Herndon USN who was already justifiably famous for being the first to initiate an in-depth exploration and survey expedition to the Amazon River basin, often being referred to afterwards as the "Dr. Livingston of the Amazon"!

Besides the great loss of life and the unbelievable miraculous occurrences that allowed for any to be saved, the ship was also carrying several tons of California Gold, the loss of which caused the failure of very many banks and businesses, due to the devastating loss of this much anticipated and expected shipment, and the solvency that needed influx of wealth represented. The economy was already in a bit of a slump at that time, what we would likely term a recession, but the loss of that shipment of bullion pushed those economic troubles into a full-blown depression that was the worst in that century and didn't actually recover until the business boom brought on by the Civil War some five years later!

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There is soooooo Unbelievably more to this story, clear up into the present day, that I will not attempt to inform you any further at this point. Perhaps I will add more to this tale latter if there seems to be enough feedback to justify the effort. But for now, I will simply suggest that anyone who is interested in the least, would do well to research it yourself, but like the people on board the S.S. Central America, you'd best batten down your hatches and be fully prepared to be BLOWN AWAY!!!