At 5pm on September 15th of 1896, two trains met in the middle of a small valley for publicity photographs, 14 miles north of Waco, Texas. Moments later, after reversing up opposite ends of the valley, the two trains met again in the same place; this time with each train moving at 50 mph, crashing head on in front of 40,000 people. 

The resulting impact caused each train's boiler to explode, killing two people, and injuring six. Still, the event - dubbed the "Crash at Crush" - was deemed a major success, and its town was permanently renamed "Crush" in its honor. 

The "Crash at Crush" was organized by William George Crush, the General Passenger Agent for the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. (KATY, for short.) Crush had seen a similar event carried out by the Columbus and Hocking Valley Railroad in Ohio a few years prior, and realized the marketing potential of a train crash. 

Crush offered free tickets to the event, and discounted $3.50 round trip train tickets to get there; water towers and a Ringling Brothers circus tent were on site for entertainment and refreshments. 

Predicting a crowd of 25,000 people, officials had a difficult time keeping the oversized group in check, and maintaining a pre-planned 200 yard distance from the impact site. Crush also chained each train's six cars together, and was assured by engineers that boiler explosions were impossible. Of course, those explosions are the reason we're still talking about it today. 

The event significantly boosted KATY's brand awareness and ridership, and organized train crashes continued around the country for decades. Such was entertainment in 1896.

Somebody call Mr. Beast, I want to see one!