It was one heck of a BBQ. On this day, 1871, Chicago got overwhelmed by the Great Fire. About 250 were killed, over 98,000 were left homeless, and over 17,000 buildings burned as it burned about one third of the entire city. The cause was almost immediately laid on Katherine O’Leary and her cow. The Irish weren’t very well liked in the city and they provided an easy scapegoat. That story persisted for decades, even after the reporter, Michael Ahearn later admitted that he made up the story was forced to retract it in 1893. Other theories have included some guy trying to cover his tracks by setting a haystack on fire while stealing milk, some sore loser in a crap game set it, and/or a meteor or comet landed. This theory had a mild degree of support because of the presence of methane gas. Oh, yoo, hoo, boys? Did any of you go by the stock yards regarding that methane business?
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 07:57:57 +0000
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