The Johnstown flood
by David McCullough · first published 1968
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At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thunderin
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on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗Actually, it not. If you want the full account, you can read David McCullough's book about the Johnstown Flood Frick was essentially Carnegie's right-hand man, having been appointed to run Carnegie's businesses after he withdrew from their day to day operations to enjoy his wealth. The club was explicitly set…
…Wealth & his philanthropy, but that doesn't excuse his horrible treatment of workers. Honestly, it's just so astonishing that you can even argue in support of Henry Frick. You should read up about the Johnstown FLood and the failure of the South Fork Dam. I feel like the HN crowd just skims the wikipedia bio and uses that to craft a hilariously terrible argument.
on “What it's like to live in Monaco” ↗