On this day, August 13, 1963, the roof of the Sheppton anthracite coal mine collapsed.

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Sheppton Mine disaster and rescue

The Sheppton Mine disaster and rescue in Sheppton, Pennsylvania, United States, was one of the first rescues of trapped miners accomplished by raising them through holes bored through solid rock, an event that gripped the world's attention during August 1963.

The roof of the Sheppton anthracite coal mine collapsed on August 13 and three miners were trapped 300 feet below ground. A small borehole was drilled from the surface in an attempt to contact the miners. After several days a borehole successfully reached a mine, and revealed that two of the miners, Henry Throne and David Fellin, had survived in a small, narrow chamber. Rescuers dropped provisions to the miners and subsequent larger boreholes were made, including the final large hole bored with the assistance of billionaire Howard Hughes, and the two surviving miners were successfully raised to the surface on August 27. Attempts to contact the third miner, Louis Bova, were unsuccessful.

In 1971, The Buoys recorded a hit single "Timothy", about three miners trapped underground due to a cave-in, with only two of them surviving and a strong implication they survived by cannibalizing the third. This led many to assume the song was inspired by the Sheppton disaster, but songwriter Rupert Holmes insisted he had never heard of the incident and would not have written the song if he had. Lead singer Bill Kelly backed up this account.

In 2015, a Pennsylvania state historical marker was installed near the site where a third miner remains entombed.

That same year, the book Sheppton: The Myth, Miracle & Music, explored themes of the miraculous and supernatural at the Sheppton disaster site. After they were rescued, Throne and Fellin related similar stories of having seen human-like figures (including the recently deceased Pope John XXIII), crosses, stairs, and other religious imagery. While the shared visions were similar, they varied enough in the details to suggest the miners had experienced folie à deux.

{snip}

Timothy *** The Buoys

OneEarthOneLove
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"Timothy" is a song written by Rupert Holmes and recorded by the Buoys in 1971, presenting the unnerving story of three men trapped in a collapsed mine, two of whom apparently resort to cannibalism against the third (the eponymous character Timothy).
The song managed to reach the Billboard Top 40 chart on April 17, 1971, remaining on the chart for eight weeks, peaking at #17, as listed in The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn.
"Compliments of Wikipedia"

Lyrics***
Trapped in a mine what had caved in
Then everyone knows the only ones left
Were Joe and me and Tim
When they broke through to pull us free
The only ones left to tell the tale
Was Joe and me

Timothy * Timothy
Where on earth did you go
Timothy * Timothy
God * why don't I know

Hungry as hell * no food to eat
And Joe said that he would sell his soul
For just a piece of meat
Water enough to drink for two
And Joe said to me
"I'll take a swig"
"And then there's some for you"

Timothy * Timothy
Joe was looking at you
Timothy * Timothy
God * what did we do

I must have blacked out just around then
'Cause the very next thing that I could see
Was the light of the day again
My stomach was full as it could be
And nobody ever got around
To finding Timothy

Timothy * Timothy where on earth did you go
Timothy * Timothy god why don't I know

Timothyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy * Yeah
Oh Timothy
Timothy........

[twodogsbarking]

1. I've been in deep mines. People shouldn't be in deep mines.