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Coal Spontaneously Combusts, War Breaks Out: A Look at the Sinking of the USS Maine

In Coal-Utility, Dust Control, Soil-Sement® by Steve Vitale

When the USS Maine, an American battleship docked in the Havana harbor, suddenly exploded on February 15, 1898, taking more than 250 lives, Americans were outraged. The immediate report blamed an underwater Spanish mine, provoking public outcry against Spain — which many used to justify the Spanish-American War. Fast-forward to the 1970s, where subsequent investigations revealed that the explosion was …