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Did A Comet Trigger The Great Chicago Fire?

Posted by timothy on from the ah-but-the-cow-ordered-the-comet-strike dept.

Alien54 writes "Perhaps it was not Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicking over a lantern that sparked the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed the downtown area and claimed 300 lives. New research lends credence to an alternative explanation: The fire, along with less-publicized and even more deadly blazes the same night in upstate Wisconsin and Michigan, was the result of a comet fragment crashing into Earth's atmosphere."

12 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Don't rule out the cow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    That doesn't rule out the cow, though. I mean, if I were a cow and there were comet fragments raining down on me, you'd better believe I'd be kicking over any lanterns in the general vicinity!

    1. Re:Don't rule out the cow! by cosmo7 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought the cow story was made up by a reporter. It is a 19th century urban legend.

      It was probably that goat again.

    2. Re:Don't rule out the cow! by SEWilco · · Score: 3, Funny
      The Uncoveror is a journal of political satire, news parody, and sometimes outrageous farce.

      What a clever cover for their plot.

  2. Re:Same? by maphe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes. It is not widely known, especially after more than 100 years, but Mrs. O'Leary's cow was actually a raptor saurus.

    --
    Kharma? BADASS
  3. Re: Same? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny


    > So, this is the one that killed the dinosaurs as well, yeah?

    No, the dinosaurs all died when a stegasaur kicked over a lantern...

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  4. in the spirit of gary larson, by The+Unabageler · · Score: 3, Funny

    was the comet made up of cows?

    --
    perl -e '$_="\007/4`\cp%2,".chr(127);s/./"\"\\c$&\""/gees; print'
  5. Re:Same? by bersl2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Mrs. O'Leary's cow was actually a raptor saurus.

    That's one pretty confused raptor...

  6. Re:Disney Science... by house15 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Holy Crap! Disney owns Discovery? No wonder most of their "science" involves Billy-Bobs with torches and suped-up engines. Give Eisner one thing, he knows his audience.

  7. Extraterrestrial Origin of Ruminants by angst_ridden_hipster · · Score: 3, Funny

    This supports my pet theory, that cows are actually from outer space.

    They created humanity in order to tend the fields for them, but somewhere along the line, the plan went horribly, terriby wrong for the ruminants.

    O'Leary's cow was trying to call in some airstrikes to inspire the resistance. Yet another dismal failure for the Glorious Extraterrestrial Cow Revolution...

    --
    Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
    www.fogbound.net
  8. Comets by Samus · · Score: 2, Funny

    So does this mean now that we'll see a bunch of cheesily dressed up plaster comets all over Chicago? (They did it with cows for anyone who never saw it)

    --
    In Republican America phones tap you.
  9. Re:the flaming snowball theory? by Crudely_Indecent · · Score: 2, Funny

    That makes me think of "A Christmas Story"....I double-dog dare you to put your tongue on that comet!

    --


    "Lame" - Galaxar
  10. Re:Sound plausible considering... by SEWilco · · Score: 3, Funny
    That meteorite fragments hit Chicago last June(?). My windows was facing away from the city, but I was still able to see a bright flash which I thought was lightning at first. Anybody else in the Chicago area remember the meteorite last year?

    No. I thought I saw something strange, but all I can clearly remember is a bright flash and two men in black walking away.