Did Mrs. O. Leary´s Cow Really Start the Chicago Fire?

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Did Mrs. O Leary’s cow really start the Chicago fire? Some might say that the cow did start the fire, but there are other theories that disprove this theory. The Chicago fire happened in 1871. It was a catastrophic day in Chicago. Even though it was catastrophic and did some really bad things, it also led to industrialization in Chicago, and made Chicago what it is today. Without the fire Chicago might not be the metropolis it is today.
What is the Great Chicago Fire? The fire started on October 8, 1871 (Chicago Historical Society).It burned until October 10. It was a dry and humid night in Chicago. The whole summer of 1871 was very dry, leaving the ground parched and the wooden city vulnerable. Fires, even serious ones were a recurring reality in Chicago in 1871. (AE American History) On average before the great fire there were two fires a day in Chicago. Between July 3rd and October 9th only two and a half inches of rain fell in Chicago. The winds the night of the fire were in excess of thirty miles per hour. All of the houses and sidewalks in Chicago at this time were built out of wood. The fire lasted most of the nigh, and into the next few days. In the end the fire incinerated nearly thirty-three miles of streets, houses, and buildings .Before midnight the fire leapt over the Chicago River. It was said that even the ground itself was on fire that night. (Chicago fire of 1871)The firefighters, exhausted from fighting a fire the night before, at first went to the wrong neighborhood and had to turn around and find the right one, then the waterworks, the only source of water for the firemen, broke. To get water they had to rip up sidewalks and roads, and put them into a steam engine, which took even longer to put the fire out. ...

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...ay of remembrance for the people that lost their homes or lives on that tragic day.
The Chicago fire was a bad time and a good time in Chicago’s past. It destroyed a whole city, but in a way it rebuilt it as well. It led to many good things, it showed that even though you may not like the people you live by or with, when they need help, you should help them no matter what. It also led to industrialization, which helped Chicago become the metropolis it is today. Even though nobody knows who started the Great Chicago fire, whether it was old peg leg Sullivan, two random old men fighting in the barn, a comet falling from the night sky, or Mrs. O’Leary starting it herself for attention, it is still one of the worst, if not the worst disasters in Chicago’s great history. Chicagoans will always remember October 8, 1871, because it is a day that changed Chicago forever.

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