Wednesday marks the 55th anniversary of an unofficial Oregon holiday: Exploding Whale Day.

The now-iconic tale of hubris, dynamite and rancid blubber took place on a beach in Florence on Nov. 12, 1955.

After an eight-ton Pacific gray whale washed up on shore, engineers with the State Highway Division concocted what they thought was a sound plan: blow it up with 20 cases of dynamite.

The original plan for the carcass and the subsequent chaos made the front page in both of Salem’s newspapers, the Capital Journal and Oregon Statesman.

Clarence Zaitz, the father of Salem Reporter owner and editor Les Zaitz, was on scene reporting for United Press International.

George Thornton, assistant district engineer for the highway department, told Zaitz he wasn’t sure how much dynamite to use becau

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