Sam Colt's exploding 4th of July raft becomes a disaster. His father packs him off to school but it seems Sam is still not through exploding things.
Sam Colt, on July 4, 1829, set off an underwater explosive that was suppose to explode a raft positioned on Ware Pond. All of a sudden there was an "awful roar as the dynamite" exploded underwater. Instantly, hundreds of gallons of mud and water shot into the air, then arched high overhead. Its descent gave the astounded crowd at the edge of the pond a show they had not expected. The crowd was soon covered "in a wet, mucky avalanche."
This defunct display earned Sam Colt a ticket off to school at Amherst. His time in school was somewhat successful, that is until a "mysterious explosion" set the school a blaze.
Previous: Exploding Four-Barrel Gun: Sam Colt Gets Big Bang Out of Electricity.
Recommended Reading About Other Children Who Became a Part of American History.
Joe Meek Becomes a Mountain Man
Maude Adams: The Girl Who Grew up to become Peter Pan.
Sitting Bull: The Boy
Sources:
Collier’s Encyclopedia, Volume 7, Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation, 1968.
Huffaker, Clair. Profiles of the American West. Pocket Books, New York, 1976.
