Mrs. O'Leary's Cow

On this day in 1871, a spark is ignited that would cause a two day inferno, kill between 200 to 300 people, and destroy 17,450 buildings. Legend has it that a cow in Mrs. O'Leary's barn knocked over a lantern leading to the fire that would eventually sear through the Windy City. The cow was later tried and found innocent by a jury of it's peers. Okay, so maybe that last part didn't happen but some people don't even believe that a cow did it. A few theories exist as to what actually caused the fire. One holds that humans caused the fire while others hold that it may have been a comet that started the blaze! Chicago had an abundance of wooden buildings, streets, as well as sidewalks that made it very vulnerable to fire. Good things came from the fire though, because as reconstruction started great economic development and population growth followed as architects began to lay out the foundations for the city's very first skyscrapers!