Part 5: Ten Facts About the San Francisco Earthquake, the Great Chicago Fire, and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of my 300 Fast Facts series! This edition is going to be all about fires, so what are we waiting for? Let's get right into it!

     The San Francisco Earthquake:

1. The San Francisco earthquake is the first natural disaster to be photographed.
2. The earthquake struck with a magnitude of 7.9 at 5:12 AM. 
3. The huge fire originally got started when a woman was preparing breakfast and didn't notice the badly damaged chimney above.
4. $30,000 worth of liquor was destroyed to stop the spread of the fire and to minimize the threat of gang violence.
5. It took a total of nine years to rebuild the city to all its glory. 
6. The resulting fires destroyed about 28,000 buildings.
7. The total property value loss was estimated to be $350 million. 
8. The amount of death is thought to be over 3,000.
9. 250,000 people were left homeless.
10. Survivors ended up camping in Golden Gate Park, simply because they had nowhere else to go.

     Source(s): https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/california/articles/5-facts-about-the-1906-earthquake/

     https://www.britannica.com/event/San-Francisco-earthquake-of-1906

     The Great Chicago Fire:

1. Catherine O' Leary is not the one to blame for the fire. There are many speculations as to what happened, but she did not start the fire.
2. O' Leary was exonerated from her charges in 1997.
3. Many think that the whole city burned down in the fire, but this isn't the case. It did lots of damage, but the majority of the city was perfectly fine.
4. To prevent repeat fires, Chicago banned the construction of wooden buildings, requiring them to all be built out of masonry. 
5. The total cost of the damages is thought to be around $200 million.
6. The immense heat and energy produced by the fire managed to toss houses and rail cars into the air.
7. 17,000 buildings and structures were completely destroyed in the fire.
8. 100,000 people were left homeless.
9. Even though most of the city was destroyed, the transportation system remained relatively unharmed, speeding up the city's recovery.
10. During reconstruction, Chicago experienced a massive population and economic growth.

     Source(s): https://blockclubchicago.org/2018/10/08/5-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-great-chicago-fire/

     https://factslegend.org/20-interesting-great-chicago-fire-facts/

     The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire:

1. The fire was likely started by a discarded cigarette.
2. The fire was fed by cotton and paper waste, both very flammable materials.
3. 129 women and 17 men died during the fire.
4. The majority of those who died were young women who immigrated from Europe.
5. The owners of the factory were charged with manslaughter but were acquitted. 
6. The owners actually profited from the tragedy by submitting inflated claims to their insurance company.
7. Women were seen jumping from windows in an attempt to escape the flames, but were killed on impact.'
8. The deaths were 100% preventable had the owners maintained their building properly.
9. There were four elevators in the building, but only one functioned.
10. There we two stairways down to the street, but one was locked to prevent theft and the other only opened inward.

     Source(s): https://www.britannica.com/event/Triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire

     https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/triangle-shirtwaist-fire