Bombs Linger Decades After a War Is Over-- Part 2 "Unexploded Ordnance"

Despite the distance of years and international protocols aimed at preventing them, still-active bombs, called "unexploded ordnance", linger underground for years after the conflicts are over.

This was the third such device the British Army has had to detonate or defuse in London this year.  And this problem isn't just a British one or even from World War II.

The oldest unexploded ordnance still being discovered these days dates back to America's Civil War, the first conflict where explosive shells were actively used.  Some of the  shells recovered from the CSS Georgia wreck site have been discovered to still be active.

In 2008, Sam White, a Virginia Civil War buff who often looked for war relics, was attempting to restore a cannonball when it exploded, killing him and sending shrapnel through his home and a porch a quarter mile away.

The fatal blast was unusual for a Civil War relic, especially when someone like White was working on it.  White had previously disarmed an estimated 1600 shells for other collectors and museums.

--GreGen