Canada Post has issued a stamp commemorating the explosion that rocked Halifax on December 6, 1917, when the Belgian relief ship Imo rammed into the French munitions vessel Mont-Blanc, in the harbour’s narrows. The Mont-Blanc was loaded with TNT for the war effort.
The release comes a month ahead of the 100th anniversary of that fateful day. Canada Post commissioned the Halifax marketing firm Burke & Burke to create the stamp in 2015. The stamp, which captures the moments before and after the disaster through elements from the past and present, was designed by Larry Burke and Anna Stredulinsky.
The explosion claimed the lives of nearly 2,000 people, injured 9,000 more, and damaged property worth millions of dollars. The explosion remains the worst man-made disaster in Canadian history and was the largest human-made explosion in history, prior to the detonation of the first atomic bomb.
Images via Canada Post
