On This Day

Time bomb aboard United DC-6 kills 44 above Longmont, Colorado

United Air Lines Flight 629, registration N37559 and dubbed Mainliner Denver, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft that was blown up on November 1, 1955, by a dynamite bomb placed in the checked luggage.

United Air Lines Flight 629, registration N37559 and dubbed Mainliner Denver, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft that was blown up on November 1, 1955, by a dynamite bomb placed in the checked luggage. The explosion occurred over Weld County, Colorado, 8 miles east of Longmont, Colorado, United States, at 7:03 p.m. local time, while the airplane was en route from Denver to Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. All 39 passengers and 5 crew members on board were killed in the explosion and crash.

Investigators determined that John Gilbert Graham was responsible for bombing the airplane in a bid to kill his mother as revenge for his childhood and to obtain a large life insurance payout.

Historical Significance

United Air Lines Flight 629, registration N37559 and dubbed Mainliner Denver, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft that was blown up on November 1, 1955, by a dynamite bomb placed in the checked luggage.

Events Before

  1. KSLA TV channel 12 in Shreveport, Louisiana (CBS) begins broadcasting

    KSLA (channel 12) is a television station in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Ark-La-Tex region.

  2. Georgetown-IBM experiment, the first public demonstration of a machine translation system, is held at IBM headquarters i

    Georgetown-IBM experiment, the first public demonstration of a machine translation system, is held at IBM headquarters in New York City

  3. "The Nutcracker" ballet choreographed by George Balanchine with Maria Tallchief as the Sugar Plum Fairy opens in New Yor

    "The Nutcracker" ballet choreographed by George Balanchine with Maria Tallchief as the Sugar Plum Fairy opens in New York, establishes its popularity in the US

  4. First mass inoculation against polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine takes place at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh,

    First mass inoculation against polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine takes place at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  5. US explodes Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, which accidentally becomes the most powerful nucle

    US explodes Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, which accidentally becomes the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the US

Events After

  1. Christine Lagarde is born

    Christine Lagarde is born

  2. A New Year's event causes panic and stampedes at Yahiko Shrine in central Niigata, Japan, killing 124 people

    A New Year's event causes panic and stampedes at Yahiko Shrine in central Niigata, Japan, killing 124 people

  3. RCA records releases Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel", his first million-seller (written by Mae Boren Axton and

    RCA records releases Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel", his first million-seller (written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden)

  4. Nikita Khrushchev denounces Joseph Stalin at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

    Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (né Dzhugashvili; 18 December [O.S. 6 December] 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian-born Soviet revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his…

  5. French-Moroccan Agreement signed in Paris rescinds the Treaty of Fez, declaring independence of Morocco from France

    French-Moroccan Agreement signed in Paris rescinds the Treaty of Fez, declaring independence of Morocco from France

More from the 1950s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on November 1, 1955?
United Air Lines Flight 629, registration N37559 and dubbed Mainliner Denver, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft that was blown up on November 1, 1955, by a dynamite bomb placed in the checked luggage. The explosion occurred over Weld County, Colorado, 8 miles east of Longmont, Colorado, United States, at 7:03 p.m. local time, while the airplane was en route from Denver to Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.
Why is Time bomb aboard United DC-6 kills 44 above Longmont, Colorado significant?
United Air Lines Flight 629, registration N37559 and dubbed Mainliner Denver, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft that was blown up on November 1, 1955, by a dynamite bomb placed in the checked luggage.

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