3. The Great Fire of 1910
Despite Halley’s Comet’s failure to eradicate humanity in 1910, (though according to some it did claim the lives of Mark Twain and the King of England, George V) doomsayers continued to link the apparition to other disasters. Canada, which suffered the Rogers Pass avalanche in March 1910, and the Northwestern United States, endured wildfires that summer. Though the fires burned for two days, August 20-21, they destroyed over 3 million acres of forests, including whole towns within the forest lands, killed 87 people, the majority of the firefighters and rangers, and cost well over $1 billion in lost lumber. The most likely cause of the fire was sparks and cinders cast into the air by steam locomotives.
1910 around the world was a year of massive fires, severe droughts in usually wet areas, torrential rains in usually dry areas, and earthly visitations from cosmic visitors. It was also a year during which international relations saw a major arms race, particularly involving Western Europe, the United States, Japan, and Russia. International relations among the European powers deteriorated, as it appeared a major war was imminent. Several other natural disasters occurred in the Southern Hemisphere, including typhoons in Australia and New Zealand. For many across the globe, 1910 appeared as the year the world comes to an end, or at the very least, entered what came to be known as the “End Times”.