Today is the anniversary of several deadly wildfires that took place in 1871. While it was not the deadliest— that label went to the Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin— the Great Chicago Fire tends to be the one people remember, not least because observers turned it into anti-immigrant propaganda even before the flames had died out.
A short history of the facts behind the popular memory of the Great Chicago Fire.
(This is not tonight’s letter, by the way. It’s just cool history, and I don’t get to do enough of that lately.)
From Letters from an American via this RSS feed
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