1871 Chicago mayoral election once. 1871 Chicago mayoral election In the Chicago mayoral election of 1871 Joseph Medill defeated Democrat Charles C. P. Holden, who was president of the Common Council. The election took place on November 7, a month after Chicago suffered the calamity of the Great Chicago Fire. Medill promised to enact strengthened building regulations and fire codes. He ran on the "Union-Fireproof" ticket. The administration of the election was challenging due to the fact that the majority of Chicago's voting records had been incinerated by the Great Chicago Fire, meaning that there were few resources to prevent individuals from voting more
Great Revere train wreck of 1871 Great Revere train wreck of 1871 The Great Revere train wreck of 1871 occurred on the evening of August 26, 1871, when the Eastern Railroad's "Portland Express" slammed into the rear of a stopped local train at Revere, Massachusetts. The accident occurred on a very busy Saturday evening with three large weekend events taking place in Boston causing heavier than usual traffic on the railroads, especially on the Eastern Railroad's line. Normally, the Eastern ran 152 trains on weekend days, but with two large revivals and military muster taking place, the number of trains running to accommodate the extra load