This day in history: A look at February 15
Photo courtesy Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
Samantha Meyeres, Staff Writer
Aside from being Galileo’s birthday and the day that Canada added a maple leaf to their flag, February 15 marks the day the USS Maine exploded, taking the lives of 266 Americans and potentially sparking the Spanish-American War.
This 6,000 ton, $2 million American battleship entered Havana Harbor, Cuba in January 1898 on the terms of protecting U.S. citizens from potentially dangerous riots happening in Cuba. It met its gruesome fate only three weeks later. Although the cause of the explosion was never confirmed, the newspapers at the time seized the opportunity to blame the disaster on Spain.
North Greenville University history professor David Bell said this concept was called yellow journalism during this time. Journalists would print sensational stories rather than facts. In the case of the Maine explosion, Bell said “war sells papers,” and that is why the news fixated on who was to blame for the disaster rather than categorizing it as a tragic accident.
Bell explained that the U.S. was going through an economic crisis at the time, as it was producing more than it was consuming. By 1890, there was no new territory in the United States. Americans were not buying as many goods, and the country needed more outlets to sell to. This led some to believe that a war with Spain would have been encouraged in order to save the economy and gain Cuban territory.
On the other side of the argument, the design of the ship placed the coal bunker directly next to the boiler room, making it very possible the explosion had an internal cause. Even though the case of the Maine has been investigated over the years, it still remains unclear where the disaster truly originated.
Whatever the cause may have been, there were 266 families that lost loved ones in the tragedy of the USS Maine. 266 lives abruptly cut short. 266 souls that set sail and never stepped foot on land again. On this day in history, February 15, we remember these 266 and honor their memory.
