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KF5JRV > TODAY 24.08.25 13:46l 53 Lines 4053 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Aug 24
Path: IZ3LSV<DB0ERF<OK0NAG<F3KT<VE2PKT<K7EK<DK0WUE<KF5JRV
Sent: 250824/1127Z 12007@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.24
At noon on August 24, 79 A.D., this pleasure and prosperity came to an end when the peak of Mount Vesuvius exploded, propelling
a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere. For the next 12 hours, volcanic ash and a hail of pumice sto
nes up to 3 inches in diameter showered Pompeii, forcing the cityâ€Ös occupants to flee in terror. Some 2,000 people stayed in
Pompeii, holed up in cellars or stone structures, hoping to wait out the eruption.
A westerly wind protected Herculaneum from the initial stage of the eruption, but then a giant cloud of hot ash and gas surged
down the western flank of Vesuvius, engulfing the city and burning or asphyxiating all who remained. This lethal cloud was foll
owed by a flood of volcanic mud and rock, burying the city.
The people who remained in Pompeii were killed on the morning of August 25 when a cloud of toxic gas poured into the city, suff
ocating all that remained. A flow of rock and ash followed, collapsing roofs and walls and burying the dead.
Much of what we know about the eruption comes from an account by Pliny the Younger, who was staying west along the Bay of Naple
s when Vesuvius exploded. In two letters to the historian Tacitus, he told of how “people covered their heads with pillows, t
he only defense against a shower of stones,” and of how “a dark and horrible cloud charged with combustible matter suddenly
broke and set forth. Some bewailed their own fate. Others prayed to die.” Pliny, only 17 at the time, escaped the catastroph
e and later became a noted Roman writer and administrator. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, was less lucky. Pliny the Elder, a celeb
rated naturalist, at the time of the eruption was the commander of the Roman fleet in the Bay of Naples. After Vesuvius explode
d, he took his boats across the bay to Stabiae, to investigate the eruption and reassure terrified citizens. After going ashore
, he was overcome by toxic gas and died.
According to Pliny the Youngerâ€Ös account, the eruption lasted 18 hours. Pompeii was buried under 14 to 17 feet of ash and pum
ice, and the nearby seacoast was drastically changed. Herculaneum was buried under more than 60 feet of mud and volcanic materi
al. Some residents of Pompeii later returned to dig out their destroyed homes and salvage their valuables, but many treasures w
ere left and then forgotten.
In the 18th century, a well digger unearthed a marble statue on the site of Herculaneum. The local government excavated some ot
her valuable art objects, but the project was abandoned. In 1748, a farmer found traces of Pompeii beneath his vineyard. Since
then, excavations have gone on nearly without interruption until the present. In 1927, the Italian government resumed the excav
ation of Herculaneum, retrieving numerous art treasures, including bronze and marble statues and paintings.
The remains of 2,000 men, women, and children were found at Pompeii. After perishing from asphyxiation, their bodies were cover
ed with ash that hardened and preserved the outline of their bodies. Later, their bodies decomposed to skeletal remains, leavin
g a kind of plaster mold behind. Archaeologists who found these molds filled the hollows with plaster, revealing in grim detail
the death pose of the victims of Vesuvius. The rest of the city is likewise frozen in time, and ordinary objects that tell the
story of everyday life in Pompeii are as valuable to archaeologists as the great unearthed statues and frescoes. It was not un
til 1982 that the first human remains were found at Herculaneum, and these hundreds of skeletons bear ghastly burn marks that t
estifies to horrifying deaths.
Today, Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the European mainland. Its last eruption was in 1944 and its last major eru
ption was in 1631. Another eruption is expected in the near future, which could be devastating for the 700,000 people who live
in the “death zones” around Vesuvius.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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