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🗓️ 22 July 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
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July 22, 1916. A bomb explodes during a “Preparedness Day” parade in San Francisco, killing 10 people and wounding another 40.
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0:20.4 | Music It's 2 p.m. on July 22nd, 1916 in San Francisco, California. |
0:30.3 | Marching along the street, 40-year-old Dr. Joseph Moss waves to the cheering crowds that packed the sidewalks. It's preparedness day, and a parade has been organized by San Francisco's Chamber of Commerce. |
0:42.3 | They want to show their support for an increase in defense spending by the government amid the ongoing war in Europe. |
0:48.3 | To his left and right, Dr. Moss is flanked by fellow veterans who fought in the Spanish-American War two decades ago. |
0:55.8 | Now, though, he's a prominent surgeon in San Francisco. |
0:58.7 | But Dr. Moss hasn't forgotten what he learned in the U.S. Army. |
1:01.8 | He marches in perfect step with those around him. |
1:04.5 | As a former soldier, Dr. Moss believes the United States has a responsibility to the rest of the world |
1:09.6 | and should join the fighting on World War I. Fifty thousand other marchers today agree with him. But many in America |
1:16.3 | would prefer to stay out of the conflict. Some of these isolationists have even made violent |
1:21.3 | threats against today's parade. But as he continues along Marcus Street, Dr. Moss doesn't think |
1:27.1 | much of these threats. |
1:28.5 | But then, out of the corner of his eye, he spots something falling from a rooftop up ahead. |
1:33.6 | It looks like a package or a small bag. |
1:36.2 | Dr. Moss can't make it out, but it's trailing smoke. |
1:39.6 | And as it lands among the crowd below, an ear-piercing explosion knocks Dr. Moss to the ground. |
1:46.0 | Through dust and smoke, Dr. Moss sees the vague shapes of men, women, and children, staggering and shock all around him. |
1:54.0 | Dr. Moss's medical and military training kicks in. |
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