Major Events of 1870s
1871 The Great Chicago Fire:
Chicago’s population had exploded from about 4,000 souls when it gained its first city charter in 1837, to 30,000 in 1850, then to an astounding 330,000 by 1871. It had just passed St. Louis as the fourth-largest city in America
There is little dispute that on the Sunday evening of October 8, 1871, something ignited a fire in Patrick and Catherine O'Leary's barn at 137 De Koven St. on Chicago's west side. When the flames subsided on Tuesday morning, the Great Fire had consumed more than three square miles (some 2,000 acres) of the city, taken 300 lives, left 100,000 without shelter (about a third of the population), and destroyed property valued at nearly $200 million. Ironically, the O’Leary house was upwind of the fire and survived.
Here is a video explaining what caused the fire of Chicago. No one knows who or what started the fire. It is still being determined today. This video explains how the fire spread and why its spread so fast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Q3wwRAGiw
Chicago’s population had exploded from about 4,000 souls when it gained its first city charter in 1837, to 30,000 in 1850, then to an astounding 330,000 by 1871. It had just passed St. Louis as the fourth-largest city in America
There is little dispute that on the Sunday evening of October 8, 1871, something ignited a fire in Patrick and Catherine O'Leary's barn at 137 De Koven St. on Chicago's west side. When the flames subsided on Tuesday morning, the Great Fire had consumed more than three square miles (some 2,000 acres) of the city, taken 300 lives, left 100,000 without shelter (about a third of the population), and destroyed property valued at nearly $200 million. Ironically, the O’Leary house was upwind of the fire and survived.
Here is a video explaining what caused the fire of Chicago. No one knows who or what started the fire. It is still being determined today. This video explains how the fire spread and why its spread so fast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Q3wwRAGiw
1876 The First Cubs Team was Formed:
No baseball team in any city has the length of lineage the Cubs have in Chicago. They were originally formed as an amateur team less than a decade after the Civil War (1874) and joined the National League for its initial season. Playing their first professional game on April 25, 1876, exactly two months before Custer's Last Stand and while Ulysses S. Grant was President of the United States, they defeated the Louisville Greys 4-0.
Ironically, at this time they were known as the White Stockings. Their star player was Hall of Famer Adrian "Cap" Anson, the first player to accumulate three-thousand hits (hi accepted total for over a century / adjusted on site to 2,995). He played and managed in Chicago for twenty-two years.
No baseball team in any city has the length of lineage the Cubs have in Chicago. They were originally formed as an amateur team less than a decade after the Civil War (1874) and joined the National League for its initial season. Playing their first professional game on April 25, 1876, exactly two months before Custer's Last Stand and while Ulysses S. Grant was President of the United States, they defeated the Louisville Greys 4-0.
Ironically, at this time they were known as the White Stockings. Their star player was Hall of Famer Adrian "Cap" Anson, the first player to accumulate three-thousand hits (hi accepted total for over a century / adjusted on site to 2,995). He played and managed in Chicago for twenty-two years.
The Ariel Bicycle Club, Organized in 1879, was extremely popular in the eighties. The high wheels, introduced in 1876, were in vogue until 1884 when 'safeties' came into use.