"One plane crash is a tragedy. Two in the same city is a catastrophe. And three is simply unfathomable. But that is just what happened in Elizabeth over a 58-day period in the early 1950s, a turbulent time for the historic city in the shadow of Newark Airport."*

This now little-known episode in Elizabeth's history and America's aviation history is the subject of a lecture by history professor and podcaster Peter Zablocki. Professor Zablocki will discuss how these crashes nearly permanently closed Newark Airport, put a small industrial city on-edge, and led to global changes in airport design.

Peter Zablocki is an award-winning historian, author, history professor at  Caldwell University, and host of the History Shorts podcast. His work focuses on uncovering lesser-known historical events and local New Jersey history, blending meticulous research with accessible storytelling. Zablocki has authored numerous books, including The Death of General Sikorski, New Jersey and the Medal of Honor: A History, The Denville 13, and Bullets That Changed America, earning accolades such as the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance Non-Fiction Popular Book of the Year and an Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award. His articles appear in publications like Military History Quarterly, Weird NJ, and Smithsonian Magazine. For more information, visit www.historyshortspodcast.com or www.peterzablocki.com.

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* From Vicki Hyman's Star-Ledger article, "How three planes crashed in three months in Elizabeth in '50s," May 29, 2015.