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2 unusual facts about Great Chicago Fire


Mrs. O'Leary's Cow

The cow belonging to Mrs. Catherine O'Leary that is often blamed in folklore for starting the Great Chicago Fire of 1871

Sam Lichtenhein

One of his father's department stores were destroyed in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, after which the family moved to Montreal.


Chicago Relief and Aid Society

Though it was one of many relief and charitable organizations in Chicago during the mid-19th century, the Chicago Relief and Aid Society came to prominence when Mayor Roswell B. Mason appointed the Society as the primary relief organization for the city in the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire.

In Old Chicago

The screenplay by Sonya Levien and Lamar Trotti was based on the Niven Busch story, "We the O'Learys." The film is a fictionalized account about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and stars Alice Brady as Mrs. O'Leary, the owner of the cow which started the fire, and Tyrone Power and Don Ameche as her sons.


see also