The Iroquois Theater Fire
On December 30, 1903, a large audience was gathered at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The theater had 1,602 seats spread across three levels of the building, as well as a “standing room” area that brought the audience total up to 2,000. But they all filtered through just one entrance at the front of the building. (This was against fire ordinances, even at that time.) As you can imagine, this spelled disaster once a fire finally broke out. Some of the stage lights short-circuited, and sparks caught the curtains on fire. Sadly, the crowd was mostly women and children. During the panic, people were trying to rush out of the theater, and many were crushed by the stampede. The passed victims were piled 10 feet high near the exits. A total of 575 people perished in this tragedy, which is an even higher toll than the Great Chicago Fire.