History of Chicago and south branches of the Chicago River, which flows through the city's downtown. The three white stripes represent the North, West and South sides of the city, Lake Michigan being the east side. The most famous and serious disaster was the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. On December 30, 1903 the "absolutely fireproof", five-week-old Iroquois Theater was engulfed by fire. The fire lasted less than thirty minutes; 602 people died as a result of being burned, asphyxiated, or trampled. The S.S. "Eastland" was a cruise ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On 24 July 1915—a calm, sunny day—the
Harris Theater (Chicago) and underwrites over two-thirds of the daily usage costs for its non-profit users while providing marketing, box office, front of house, and technical services at no extra charge. As of 2008, the theater was used on average 262 days a year for 112 different performances with audiences at about 65 percent of capacity. When the Harris Theater opened, it served as the home venue for a dozen founding music and dance groups: Chicago Ballet, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Sinfonietta, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Lyric Opera Center for American Artists,