Here’s a brief look back in time on this day, March 25. NOTE: Content may be disturbing for some readers.
In 1634, the first settlers of Maryland arrive. Led by Leonard Calvert, he named the land after King Charles I’s wife Queen Henrietta Maria. Per instructions from his brothers, he attempted to establish a feudalistic system of government, which was met with resistance from his fellow colonists. They established St. Mary’s City to become the colony’s first capital. The site is a living history museum today.
In 1911, one of the worst industrial tragedies to occur in the United States happens in Greenwich Village: a borough in New York City. A fire broke out in a scrap bin on the eighth floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which harbored hundreds of workers who produced shirtwaists: a common type of women’s blouse. Most of these workers were Italian or Jewish girls and women who immigrated from Europe. The fire spread rapidly. Within three minutes, the main stairway onto Greene Street is blocked with an inferno. Panicked, the workers begin crowding onto the fire escape, which was a flimsy iron staircase that was already broken by the time the fire began. The weight combined with the scorching heat was too much for the staircase, later collapsing with 20 women still on it. They all fall to their deaths onto the pavement below. Due to the lack of workplace safety regulations at the time, this contraption was the last available escape route. There was another set of doors that went to the street, but the owners had them locked during workplace hours as a means to prevent theft. Refusing to die a slow, painful death, those entrapped began to jump out of the windows, which was a 100 foot drop. In total, 146 workers were killed from either the fire, smoke inhalation, or from jumping out. In its aftermath, the company’s owners were ultimately acquitted of first and second-degree manslaughter. They were however found liable of wrongful death in a civil case, being forced to pay $75 (or about $2,460) per deceased victim.