The Kaiser is Why Tourists Can’t Access the Statue of Liberty’s Torch
Technically, both sides in WWI were equally free to buy American munitions. In practice, however, only the Entente, whose navies controlled the sea lanes, could ship munitions from America to their armies. So the Germans sent saboteurs to America to disrupt the delivery of munitions. On the night of July 30th, 1916, Black Tom Island had about two million pounds of artillery and small arms munitions in freight trains and barges. Sometime after midnight, guards noticed a series of small fires on the piers. Aware of the risk of explosion, they took to their heels.
At 2:08 AM, July 30th, 1916, a massive explosion rocketed debris for over a mile, shattered windows up to 25 miles away, and caused about half a billion dollars in damages. The actual death toll is unknown, as there were many housing barges nearby, and many victims were probably incinerated. The blast and debris struck the Statue of Liberty, and popped rivets in its upraised arm holding the torch. That part of the statue has been closed to the public ever since.