What was that real big bang?

Don't have time for a particularly long post today but I couldn't pass this up. Over 350 years ago almost 50 tons of gunpowder blew up in the Dutch city of Delft. A quarter of the city was flattened. Apparently the keeper of the gunpowder magazine went down to check on it and something sparked the explosion. This is where any investigative journalist living then would start asking questions. For example, what was he thinking checking gunpowder anyway? Does it melt or evaporate? Was he carrying a brazier with him, or smoking a pipe? And for a city famous for painters and tile, what were they doing warehousing this much powder?

I'm off to the library tommorow to see what I can find. Big explosions usually have a story.