4. Catherine O’Leary and her Cow were wrongly blamed for starting the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.
Catherine O’Leary (March 1827 – July 3, 1895) was an Irish immigrant who was blamed, along with her cow, for starting the Great Chicago Fire of 1871; occurring between October 8 and October 10, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire was responsible for the deaths of up to 300 people, along with the destruction of 3.3 square miles of the city with property damages totaling $5bn in 2018 inflation-adjusted currency, and left more than 100,000 inhabitants homeless.
Beginning around 2100 hours near a small barn belonging to the O’Leary family, a long drought over the preceding summer and a strong southwesterly breeze resulted in the rapid spread of the inferno throughout the predominantly wooden buildings of the greater city of Chicago. Although the official cause of the fire was never determined, with the official report stating that “whether it originated from a spark blown from a chimney on that windy night, or was set on fire by human agency, we are unable to determine”, the Chicago Tribune published a claim that the fire had started when a cow kicked over a lantern whilst being milked; anti-Irish sentiments typical of the United States during the late-19th century, encouraged this narrative, with stereotypical Irish drunkenness on the part of Mrs. O’Leary popularly blamed for her accident.
In 1893, the author of the original claim, Michael Ahern, finally admitted that he had made the story up, yet his fictional version of events remains indelibly attached to public memory. An alternative theory that has garnered historical attention in recent years is that the barn was being used for gambling by a group of men, who inadvertently knocked a lantern over and fled the scene; this version of events is supported by Louis Cohn, who claimed to be in the barn with the O’Leary’s son that night with several others.