chimney

If you happen to be around when they are knocking down a chimney (AKA a smokestack), you might notice it breaking in mid-air as it falls. This observation is characteristic of all falling tall structures – especially chimneys. It has been termed, “The Falling Chimney Paradox“.

Here is how this phenomenon unfolded before a multitude in 1980.

The falling chimneys of Kempton Hardwick

One chilly morning in the summer of 1980, some 10,000 people gathered in Kempton Hardwick, Bedford, England. They had come to witness what many considered to be a significant moment in Britain’s final chapter of the Industrial revolution. An event that was personal to most Britons of the area was imminent.