Currier & Ives lithograph shows people fleeing across the Randolph Street Bridge. Thousands of people literally ran for their lives before the flames, unleashing remarkable scenes of terror and dislocation. “The whole earth, or all we saw of it, was a lurid yellowish red,” wrote one survivor. “Everywhere dust, smoke, flames, heat, thunder of falling walls, crackle of fire, hissing of water, panting of engines, shouts, braying of trumpets, roar of wind, confusion, and uproar.” Original Source: Chicago Historical Society Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
On 8 October 1871, what became known as the Great Chicago Fire began and would last till 10 October. The fire began around 9 pm on October 6 possibly at a barn owned by the O’Leary family or in the nearby area southwest of the city center. It consumed a shed on that farm and then spread outward. Due to a period of hot, dry, and windy conditions, the fire would spread rapidly. With homes and buildings built mostly of wood, it also provided fuel for the fire as well.
The fire leapt the south branch of the Chicago River destroying central Chicago. It leapt across the main river branch and consumed the north side as well. 300 people were killed, and a large swath of the city (about 3.3 square miles) was destroyed. 100,000 people were left homeless because of the fire. After the fire help poured in from all over the country and internationally as well. Money from Great Britain helped build the Chicago Public Library that would be free to everyone.
After the great Chicago fire of 1871, corner of Dearborn and Monroe Streets Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
The aftermath brought reconsideration of many things particularly in building construction. Fire prevention became a big topic and construction of brick rather than wood buildings would result. With the right infrastructure in place, it would prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. Rebuilding began right away with higher standards and sometimes with buildings that were considered better than the ones that burned down.
Suggested Reading
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Advertisement for the 1896 play The Great Train Robbery. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 Public Domain
Poor roads and bandits made traveling hazardous except near large cities where roads were maintained. Winter was especially difficult due to fallen trees, washed out areas, and occasionally carriages damaged due to the rough roads. Railroads made traveling over long distances more comfortable but not always without peril. On 16 October 1866, the Reno Gang boarded a train in Indiana and stole $13,000 in cash, bank notes, and gold coins. This inspired copycats and railroads had to devise better ways of protecting both passengers and valuable cargo.
The Reno Gang boarded an Ohio & Mississippi train at the Seymour depot in Indiana. Once the train was underway, they proceeded to enter the Adams Express Company car. Adams Express transported bank notes, gold coins, and packages for clients. The masked bandits forced the clerk to open the safe where they found $10,000 in bank notes and $3,000 in gold coins. Another safe could not be opened so they tossed it out hoping to open it later (they failed in doing that). After signaling the train to stop, they hopped off and disappeared into the night.
The Reno Brothers, prior to this robbery, were well known for robbing post offices and homes. They often killed witnesses who might testify against them. They had their share of supporters who shielded them and their audacious robbery of a train got widely reported making them famous. Other gangs began replicating what they did, and train robberies became frequent in the 1870’s-1880’s.
First logo for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Color version. Circa 1850’s Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Railroads, upset with the negative press these robberies generated, began adding armed guards to trains along with horse units to chase them down. Safes were bolted down or made so heavy as to make them impossible to toss out, and other safeguards were employed as well. Robberies became more deadly as a result. The famed detective agency Pinkerton was hired to track down the bandits and bounties were posted to encourage people to turn them in.
Deadly shootouts became the norm resulting in both injuries and deaths and the days of easily robbing trains came to an end. For the Reno brothers Frank, William, and Sim, they would come to a bitter end in 1868. A train robbery netted them $96,000 but were captured and put in jail pending trial. Unfortunately, the armed guard they had beaten up died from his injuries and a vigilante mob formed, broke into the jail, and hung all three from a tree. While their supporters vowed revenge, it was made clear that the vigilantes–officially called the Jackson County Vigilance Committee–were unafraid of them. Officially what they did was denounced by the sheriff and the prosecutor, but no arrests or prosecutions of any member of the group occurred. The Reno Gang faded into history remembered only as the first gang to stage a train robbery. Other gangs, notably the James Gang, became more well known and have stayed in popular culture memory.
Indiana Historical Bureau. “Hoosier State Chronicles | the Reno Gang.” Video. YouTube, November 28, 2017. Accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOYngWSMYwc.
Thomas Jones, 1920 UltimateLF (titanic.fandom.com) CC BY-SA
Venture along to the harbourside in Cemaes, and you’ll find a striking monument to one of this village’s true heroes. Fittingly shaped like the bow of a ship, it bears a large black plaque dedicated to Able Seaman Thomas William Jones. Affectionately remembered as “Tom Titanic”, he was born in the village, at Number 4 Sea View Cottages in 1877, with a plaque also now on his former home. As a worker for the White Star Line, he was on board the legendary RMS Titanic, dubbed the unsinkable ship, on its doomed maiden voyage to New York on the night of April 14, 1912.
The RMS Titanic is well known as the supposedly unsinkable ocean liner that sank on her maiden voyage in 1912 after striking an iceberg. It’s also known for having been the very peak of extravagance and comfort at the time, especially for the first-class passengers who dined in luxury on the Titanic. The sumptuous breakfast menu featured delicacies that would make modern mouths water, including an old-fashioned recipe not commonly seen today: Buckwheat cakes. If you like pancakes, you might love this fun twist on them, which are essentially just pancakes made with milled buckwheat flour. They’re also usually on the thin side, more like a tasty crêpe.
(There are many variations on buckwheat pancakes out there. Some use buckwheat flour entirely for the pancakes. Others use a combination of regular white flour and buckwheat flour. Buckwheat has a more intense flavor profile than regular flour, so some use a mix of both for a smoother tasting pancake. Martha Stewart has a recipe here, which uses a blend. Laura Fuentes goes all in with her recipe. The original recipe used on Titanic (or roughly in the same era) was covered by Max Miller. The recipe is here and his YouTube video is here. Please note his comments on buckwheat if you are not prepared to go all in it totally.)
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That mission was led by world-renowned deep-sea explorer Dr. Robert Ballard, the oceanographer and marine geologist who helped solve one of the world’s greatest mysteries. He is also the CEO of Ocean Exploration Trust. “It was a classified secret mission. I was actually doing something else, but I needed a cover. We lost two submarines during the Cold War, the Thresher and the Scorpion, and it turned out the Titanic was between them,” Dr. Ballard explained. Through interactive activities, real equipment, and photos and videos of the crew. The exhibit lets you take a walk in Dr. Ballard’s shoes as he and his crew discovered the ship roughly 12,600 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean more than 70 years after it sank on its maiden voyage. “So, this is all about how, on a top-secret mission with people that didn’t have clearances aboard the French National Geographic, I was able to find the Titanic when I didn’t have the technology to do it,” Dr. Ballard said.
The only picture of the Marconi radio room onboard the Titanic. Harold Bride is seated at his station. Photo was taken by Father Francis Browne, SJ, while aboard Titanic. Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons
On Saturday 26th September 2026, there was a ceremony at Hollybrook Cemetery. This marked the unveiling of a new memorial headstone for John Foley, commonly known as Jack Foley. This was part of the Unmarked Graves Project by the British Titanic Society (BTS). Amongst those attending the ceremony were relatives from Youghal, County Cork, Ireland where Jack Foley was born. Priest Kevin Melley led a service. Of the 908 crew who perished, 542 people who signed on in April 1912 gave a Southampton address. In Malmesbury Road, Shirley alone eight men died. In addition to Jack Foley, Hollybrook Cemetery has over thirty Titanic related graves of survivors who died in later years. The most well-known memorial at Hollybrook Cemetery is to Fred Fleet, who died in Norman Road, Freemantle in 1965.
Suggested Titanic Reading
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Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc.)
Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)
On 2 October 1944 the Warsaw Uprising came to an end with the surrender of surviving Polish rebels to German forces.
The uprising began as the Red Army approached Warsaw two months ago. Supporting the Polish government-in-exile, they had hoped to seize control before the troops arrived as they did not want a Communist regime in Poland.
Despite initial gains, they were poorly supplied. The Germans, on the other hand, received reinforcements. While the Red Army did take a Warsaw suburb, Stalin’s ordered them not to assist the rebels. The Warsaw streets saw brutal fights between the Polish rebels and German troops. Both Churchill and Roosevelt wanted to aid the rebels, but Stalin denied use of air bases to supply the rebels. This action would be long remembered in Poland. Churchill ordered supplies be air dropped using a combination of RAF, the South African Air Force, and even the Polish Air Force. This caused Stalin to relent and use Soviet air bases to make supply drops.
However, it was too late as the Polish rebels were out of all essential supplies. After 63 days of fighting, they were forced to surrender. The Germans would swiftly deport the remaining population of Warsaw to concentration camps for extermination or slave labor. Those that participated in the uprising as members of the Polish Home Army were, according to the surrender documents, to be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. Many choose to blend in with the civilian population to fight again another day.
Hitler ordered that Warsaw be destroyed in retaliation. This had already started after the earlier Warsaw Ghetto uprising but was accelerated. Using explosives, flamethrowers and other implements special units went through and destroyed whole neighborhoods, historical monuments, libraries, museums, government buildings, churches and anything else they could get to. By January 1945, 85% of Warsaw had been destroyed. A list compiled after the war shows how complete this destruction was.
10,455 buildings
923 historical buildings (94% of these were destroyed)
25 churches
14 libraries which includes the National Library
81 schools
64 high schools
The University of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology
Also, all Jewish synagogues, schools, and businesses were wiped out as well.
Warsaw, the capital of Poland, destroyed by German Nazis, January 1945. Public Domain (Wikipedia)
Aftermath
Stalin would claim later that the rebels did not coordinate their plans with them. The Polish Home Army though was both fiercely anti-German and anti-Communist, so Stalin was never going to support them. Since his prewar goal was to allow the western governments to fight and weaken themselves, the events in Poland fit with his plan. After the war and with a Communist government in place, the Soviets tried the leaders who led the uprising on a variety of charges including, ironically, fascism and even collaboration. The usual Soviet show trial was held and upon conviction sent to a gulag for the rest of their lives.
Those fortunate enough to have been captured by the Germans escaped this. Soviet propaganda tried to play both the Polish Home Guard and the Polish government-in-exile in the same way as fascists, collaborators, or worse. The Polish people, however, knew the truth so laws were enacted in Poland to forbid its citizens from criticizing either the Soviet Union or the Red Army. All references to the Polish Army in any media were banned or edited out. This did not work so they tried depicting the average Polish Home Army soldier as being led by corrupt officers. These laws remained in effect until the 1980’s. The rise of the Solidarity movement that challenged the Soviet backed regime along with the demise of the Soviet Union would end those laws. In 1989 a monument to those who revolted against the Germans was built.
Polish exiles and others in the West told stories about the heroism of the Polish Home Army. Criticism of the Soviets standing and doing nothing as the Germans battled them countered the Soviet propaganda that portrayed them as fascists or collaborators. Books were written about them along with news articles and interviews that relayed what happened in Poland. Back in Poland, despite the official bans on all reference to Polish Uprising of 1944, was not forgotten. It simply became one of many grievances the people had against both the Soviet backed Polish government and of the Soviet Union itself. Poland was invaded in 1939 by the Germans to eradicate its people, culture, and history. It is often forgotten that was the German goal. When the Soviet troops liberated Poland, if that term can apply here, they simply put another brutal dictatorship in its place. It would not be, until the Solidarity movement took shape in the 1980’s, that Poland would see positive change and with the collapse of the Soviet Union finally get back its freedom it lost in 1939.
Gideon, Lester P. “The Warsaw Uprising of 1944.” The Personal Notes and Diary of EUGENIUSZ MELECH. Last modified 2004. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://www.gideon1.net/uprising/.
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October, meaning eight in Latin, is the 10th month in Julian and Gregorian calendars. Originally it was the eighth month under the old Roman calendar and retains its name. The month begins the full transition to autumn in the Northern Hemisphere but spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
Harvests are underway in October, and seasonal produce appears in the grocery stores. Apples, artichokes, cranberries, pears, and pumpkins are part of this season along with others as well. Autumn festivals are starting to appear as well to celebrate the harvest. A major Autumn festival is Oktoberfest, an annual event that began in 1810 in Munich, Germany. Originally a royal marriage event, it has blossomed into a two-week festival the showcases agriculture, fun games and entertainment, lots of food, and of course beer. Lots of beer. The Munich festival, which every major beer brewer participates in, sees over 2 million gallons consumed. When Germans migrated to other countries, the festival came with them, and many cities now have the event.
Another rite of October is pumpkin carving. Back in Ireland, turnips were carved and a candle lit nearby to keep a rather disreputable wandering spirit named Stingy Jack from entering their homes. When the Irish migrated to America, they discovered a unique squash called pumpkin that was much easier to carve. Already useful for pumpkin pie and roasted pumpkin seeds, they started carving their Jack O’ Lanterns and placing them out for people to see. Others liked it and to the delight of pumpkin growers, people wanted more pumpkins to do their own versions. Now it has become its own unique American seasonal hobby to carve the most interesting or scary pumpkin face. Many festivals feature pumpkin carving contests. And today there are serious competitions each year. A related one, but without carving, is the growing of the largest pumpkin. Each year growers try to make a few reach that gargantuan size that will beat the previous year. Half Moon Bay in California is one such place where it takes place annually.
October, of course, is the countdown to All Hallow’s Eve or just Halloween. A time for kids to trick or treat, for parents to fret about all the candy they need to hand out, and of course to watch scary movies. Costumes vary from the simple to the very creative. Thoughtful parents get together and have an event together so that kids can have some fun, eat some creepy looking candy suited for the occasion and hear ghost stories when the lights are turned low. Perhaps that sound of a horse approaching outside is the headless horseman!
At any rate, welcome to October and may it be fun for you!
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