July 6 · This Day in America
It is a hot Thursday afternoon and the Ringling Bros. big top in Hartford is packed, mostly with mothers and children. The great canvas had been waterproofed with paraffin and gasoline. When fire starts up a sidewall the tent does not just burn — it goes up like a torch, and the exits are blocked by animal chutes. In minutes it is over. One hundred sixty-seven people die, many of them children, and more than 700 are hurt. The wartime country, braced for telegrams from Europe, instead grieves a Tuesday matinee turned catastrophe at home. Out of it came hard, lasting law: flameproofing, clear exits, fire codes that govern every arena and theater Americans walk into now. We learned safety the way we too often do — at unbearable cost, and then we made it stick.
Source: www.history.com
Also on this day · 1933
In the depths of the Depression, with baseball attendance collapsed, a Chicago sportswriter dreams up a one-time exhibition pitting the best of each league against each other. Nearly 48,000 pack Comiskey Park. In the third inning, a 38-year-old Babe Ruth — past his prime, near the end — drives the first home run in All-Star history. The American League wins 4-2. The "one-time" game never stopped. The Midsummer Classic was born, and so was the idea of an All-Star.
Source: sabr.org