Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage



One of the 20th Century's most vivid historic images is the crash of the airship Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937. The German hydrogen-powered passenger zeppelin had been in operation since March 1936. Minutes after ground handlers grabbed hold of a pair of landing lines dropped from the nose of the ship, the Hindenburg suddenly burst into flames and dropped to the ground in a little over half a minute. Of the 36 passengers and 61 crew on board, 13 passengers and 22 crew died, as well as one member of the ground crew.

The disaster is documented as an assemblage of film footage gathered by four news organizations. It is frequently presented with narration by Chicago radio reporter Herbert Morrison, who recorded commentary on the scene at the time, but was broadcast later on radio and in combination with the newsreel footage.

Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage was added to the National Film Registry in 1997.


 * Oh, the Humanity!


 * Broadcasting in the United States - A historic moment remembered (and replayed) even today.
 * Intrepid Reporter - Herb Morrison is remembered as a hero by radio and television newscasters. He had a long and successful life and career. His assistant Charlie Nehlsen, who actually operated the disc recording machine, should also be remembered; he had the presence of mind to adjust the needle back onto the disc after the massive explosion had jarred it askew (you can hear this, right after Morrison says, "It burst into flames," if you listen carefully).
 * Newsreel - Most people at the time saw the silent footage from the video cameras, or something like this. Morrison's audio recording was only dubbed onto these films many years later.
 * Oh, the Humanity! - Morrison's emotional broadcast recording actually included the words "all the humanities, all the passengers". Humanity was a known Morrison-ism for any large group of people.

Comic Books

 * In a speculative Superman comic in which Superman is involved in the War of the Worlds, Lois Lane is reporting on the Martian invasion by telephone: "They set the train on fire! All those people! The humanity!" Since this takes place in 1938, Lois may actually be thought of as quoting Morrison.

Music

 * Averted by Led Zeppelin, who used a still photograph of the disaster - not a frame from the newsreel footage - on the cover of their first album.

Web Original

 * At least one Photoshopped version of the classic photo of the burning Hindenburg replacing the zeppelin with a manatee can be found on the web with the caption "Oh, the huge manatee!"

Western Animation

 * An episode of The Critic featured characters traveling Hindenburg Airlines, whose motto is "Oh, the Humanity!"
 * Robot Chicken includes it in a montage of sports bloopers for whatever reason.
 * On The Simpsons, Barney takes the controls of the Duff Beer blimp and crashes it in a spectacular fireball, causing nearby Kent Brockman to exclaim "Oh the humanity!"