Today in history, the great Chicago fire started and burned for 3 days before it finally burned itself out on October 10, 1871. It killed hundreds of people and destroyed about 2,000 acres in the central business district, including hotels, department stores, Chicago’s City Hall, the opera house, theatres, churches and printing plants. The fire destroyed thousands of homes and left over 90,000 homeless.
The fire supposedly started at about 9:00 p.m. on 8 October in a small barn belonging to the O’Leary family. Although the city officials never determined the exact cause of the blaze, the most popular account was that it was caused by a cow while it was been milked by Mrs O’Leary, the cow allegedly kicked over a lantern in the barn
Source: Wikipedia
