Strange Columbus The 1955 OSU Explosion




the 1955 OSU explosion Columbus, Ohio

In this short installment of Strange Columbus, we talk about the 1955 OSU Explosion that occurred early on the morning of Thursday, January 6th. The event happened at the War Research Building on Ohio State’s main campus. Half a pound of pyridine exploded during an experiment, though there were no injuries as the lab was unoccupied at the time of the explosion.
The blast shattered four windows on the 2nd floor of the building, and generally caused a mess in the lab itself. However, because no fire occurred during the event, damage was described as light. Several pieces of lab equipment were sent to the Columbus Fire Department to be checked out for further danger, but the event was labeled a freak accident. It went unmentioned in the local news as to the nature of the experiment and why explosive materials were being used.
The exact building this occurred in seems unclear, as old articles do not mention the location.
Unfortunately, this event would be far from the last in terms of university lab accidents.

Columbus has far less explosive history to discover.

Cool Link University District History

University district history

This link is a great repository of historic photographs of the Ohio State Campus area, including High Street and neighboring Weinland Park. There is also a lot of historical information on events, restaurants, buildings and a lot more.

University District History