Bringing down the house

Let's face it: really old disasters are fascinating.  Pictured above is the aftermath from the the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.  If any of those children are still alive the youngest would be about 117 years old now.  Galveston has long since been cleaned up and rebuilt.  We can call this sort of photograph educational because it probably is--sure makes me want to live somewhere else than Galveston...as a wiki witch I avoid places where houses fall.  But heck, this photo also serves the human desire for guilt-free rubbernecking.

Ready for more?  Another house, smaller disaster.  Published in April 1919.  (Yes there's a point to this; continue reading after the requisite gawk).

The Library of Congress had an unconfirmed record which called this a French biplane.  Two Military History Project members have identified this as a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny", which was the best known United States biplane of World War I.  So thank you, Monstrelet and Eurocopter!  The Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny"...it'll be easier to remember that name now.