image credit @ Zetec
Science and industry have been guiding tools for human progress since history started first getting comprehensively recorded. From the basic tools employed during the stone age to complement hunting and gathering to the intricate machines and manufacturing techniques that evolved during the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and early 1800s, an astounding increase in the scale of the machinery is observed, from tools that would complement manual labour to Mechanical systems not only replacing human involvement but with a much higher Output yield of finished goods previously thought possible in all sectors of industry.
The need for finished products and services attributed to the increasing standard of living available due to technological advances brought about during the Industrial Revolution required Elaborate machinery and manufacturing plants along with correspondingly complex infrastructure to accommodate the machinery leading to the growth of mechanized factory systems. Naturally, as the payload of volatile fuels and the size of the machinery augmented, system failure and occupational accidents would lead to catastrophe for both human and economic capital in an unprecedented manner.
The year of 1854 for Hartford, the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut, proved to be fatal to the lives of 21 workers and left 50 injured, amongst the 300 employed at Railroad-Locomotive Factory located at Fales and Grey Car works. The fatalities were attributed to an explosion from a newly installed 50-HorsePower Boiler with an operation time of under a month.