An abrupt end to the world's love affair with airships

Despite a long list of previous airship accidents including the British R-101, on which 48 people died, or the USS Akron, on which 73 were killed, the public was unwaveringly enamored with the high-tech dirigibles.

There was one difference between these other crashes and the Hindenburg: these other ships crashed at sea or in the darkness of night, far from witnesses or cameras.

The crash of the Hindenburg was a very public event. It was captured on film, broadcast on the radio, and millions of people around the world saw the dramatic explosion that consumed the ship and its passengers, putting an abrupt end to the world's love affair with the airship.