Great Chicago Fire
Illinois city inferno
The Great Chicago Fire was a devastating conflagration that burned through Chicago in October 1871, killing hundreds and leaving roughly a third of the city's population homeless.
The fire destroyed much of the downtown and became a symbol of urban catastrophe and subsequent renewal.
Legend blames Mrs.
O'Leary's cow for kicking over a lantern, though this was likely fabricated.
The city rebuilt rapidly after the Great Chicago Fire.
- flamesVisible burning combustion
- infernoDevastating, uncontrollable blaze
- 1871Four-digit date
- cowFemale bovine
- lanternEnclosed portable light
up in flames · urban legend · blaze · ashes · destruction · rebuild · wooden · wind · windy city · October · devastation · conflagration · homeless · firefighters · Lake Michigan · water supply · downtown · embers
- fireflame, blaze, flames, inferno, embers
- Illinois historyAbraham Lincoln, Springfield, Al Capone, Prohibition, Lincoln-Douglas debates
- Wildfireswildfire, firebreak, firebreaks, flames, flame
- TragediesHamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet
Great Chicago Fireurban renewal
Revitalizing decayed city areas
Great Chicago Firedeluge
Severe overflow of water
inundation · ice storm · blizzard · freezing
great, greater, greatest, greatly, greatness, Chicago, fire, fireman, firemen