When Weather Changed History

The Great Chicago Fire (2x2)

Air date: Oct 12, 2008

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871. The fire killed up to 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2) of Chicago, Illinois, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S. disasters of the 19th century, and destroyed much of the city's central business district, Chicago was rebuilt and continued to grow as one of the most populous and economically important American cities. The very night the fire broke out, an even deadlier fire annihilated Peshtigo, Wisconsin and other villages and towns north of the city Green Bay.