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The Great Fire of Meireki
One of the greatest disasters in Japanese history, began in the Japanese capital city of Edo on March 2, 1657. Legend has it that the fire was accidentally started by a priest who was supposedly trying to cremate a cursed kimono. The kimono had been owned in succession by three teenage girls who all died before ever being able to wear it. When the garment was being burned, a large gust of wind fanned the flames causing the wooden temple to ignite. The fire spread quickly through the city, due to hurricane force winds which were blowing from the northwest. Edo, like most Japanese cities and the buildings were especially…
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The Wreck of the Sea Venture
Following the failures of the first American colonies of Roanoke and Popham, a third venture by the Virginia Company of London landed a colony on an island peninsula which was named James Fort. The colony consisted of 104 men and boys, who arrived on May 14th 1607 on three ships led by Captain Christopher Newport, the Susan Constant, Discovery and Godspeed. The position was chosen by the first council leader, Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, for its strategic position nestling on a curve in the James River, which he felt would give advance warning of any invasion from Spaniards, and for its lack of native inhabitation. The reason for this became…
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The Great Fire of Southwark 1212
The Great Fire of Southwark struck London in July 1212. The exact date is not known, it is thought to have been the 10th though some report it on the 11th or even the 12th. Nor is the exact cause of the fire known though we do know that the fire started in Southwark, south of the Thames. The fire first destroyed St Mary Overie (Our Lady of the Canons) and spread to the rebuilt London Bridge. Although the bridge had been built in stone it had atop it wooden shops and houses which caught ablaze easily. People had begun to flee over the bridge for safety whilst some travelled…
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The Great Chicago Fire
[threecol_one][/threecol_one] [threecol_one][/threecol_one] [threecol_one_last][/threecol_one_last] Everyone knows that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern and started the fire that destroyed a large portion of Chicago, Illinois. It even became a nursery rhyme: Late one night, when we were all in bed, Mrs. O’Leary lit a lantern in the shed. Her cow kicked it over, Then winked her eye and said, “There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight!” Well, as is becoming a common theme, the true story is more complex. The summer of 1871 had been a hot one and a drought plagued the city. It was still dry coming into the fall months. Chicago at that time…
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Memories of the Challenger Disaster
There were rows of metal folding chairs in the gymnasium of our elementary school. The little kids were jumping around and excited. I was 12 and in 5th grade and our class much too old and cool for such foolishness, but we were excited too. Teachers shushed us and moved us into our assigned seats and the television was rolled out and turned on for us to watch the countdown.President Reagan had said the first civilian in space should be a teacher. The search for the perfect teacher went on for m [...]
