MicroFactzzz#0078 · ☠️ Dark Facts
The fire that leveled Chicago probably had nothing to do with a cow
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed most of the city, though the popular story of a cow kicking over a lantern is almost certainly a myth.
In October 1871, a fire broke out in Chicago that in under two days consumed several thousand buildings, left more than 100,000 residents homeless, and killed at least several hundred people.
The popular legend claims the fire started when a cow belonging to the O'Leary family kicked over a kerosene lantern in a barn — the story was popularized by the press of the time, though the journalist who invented it admitted to making it up decades later.
The real cause of the fire was never conclusively established — hypotheses include sparks from neighbors playing cards in the same barn, but no version has ever been firmly confirmed.
The significance: on the very same day Chicago was burning, a far deadlier wildfire was raging in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, that claimed more lives — yet it remains far less known today.
Sources
- General knowledge / encyclopedic sources
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