1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: show that charts the storms of history every day of 4 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:18,240 Speaker 1: the week. I'm Gabe Lusier, and today we're looking at 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 1: how one of the worst tornadoes in Midwest history led 6 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: to the creation of the now world famous Mayo Clinic. 7 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: The day was August twenty first, eighteen eighty three. Three 8 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: powerful tornadoes wreaked havoc in southeast Minnesota. They touched down 9 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: throughout the day in parts of three different counties, killing 10 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,279 Speaker 1: roughly forty residents and injuring more than two hundred others. 11 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: At the time, there was not yet a formal system 12 00:00:55,200 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: for classifying tornado intensity, but decades later, doctor Tetsua Theodore 13 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: Fujita would introduce the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale. This allowed 14 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: researchers to rate a tornado's intensity and estimate its wind 15 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: speed based on the damage left in its wake. The 16 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: scale ran from F zero to F five, with F 17 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: five being the most intense damage category. The scale could 18 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: be applied to any storm past or present as long 19 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:29,479 Speaker 1: as there was sufficient data, so in the nineteen seventies, 20 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: renowned meteorologist Thomas P. Grajulis used the scale to rate 21 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: the three tornadoes that struck Minnesota in eighteen eighty three. 22 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: The first of the trio had kicked up in the 23 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: mid afternoon on August twenty first, just outside Pleasant Grove, Minnesota. 24 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: It moved northeast on the ground for about three miles, 25 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: damaging four farms and killing two people along the way. 26 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: Gradulis rated this one in F three, right in the 27 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: mid middle of the scale. He gave the same rank 28 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: to the final tornado of the day, which touched down 29 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: around eight thirty that night, two miles north of Saint Charles. 30 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: The twister moved east for twelve miles, injuring nineteen people 31 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: and killing one. That means the other thirty seven fatalities 32 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: that day and most of the two hundred injuries were 33 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 1: caused by the middle storm, the one that Grajulis ranked 34 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: an F five. That mile wide tornado formed suddenly at 35 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: about six thirty that evening, just a few miles southwest 36 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: of Rochester. Thankfully, the roar of the storm was so 37 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 1: loud that many residents heard it coming and were able 38 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: to seek shelter, but others weren't so lucky. The tornadoes 39 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: stayed on the ground for twenty five miles, with wind 40 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,399 Speaker 1: speeds exceeding two hundred miles per hour. It leveled more 41 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: than a dozen farmsteads and destroyed over one hundred and 42 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: thirty five homes. Another two hundred buildings were badly damaged, 43 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: and the North Broadway Bridge was torn from its moorings. 44 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: When the storm finally dissipated ten miles east of Rochester, 45 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: a third of the city was in ruins and several 46 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,639 Speaker 1: dozen people were dead. The surrounding rural area looked like 47 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: a war zone. Fields were strewn with debris and with 48 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: the bodies of horses, cows, and fish that had been 49 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: swept up from the local farms and rivers. The town 50 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: would have a long and difficult recovery ahead of it, 51 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: but the most immediate concern was tending to the more 52 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: than two hundred people who were in dire need of 53 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: medical attention. At the time, there were only three hospitals 54 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: in the state of Minnesota outside of the Twin Cities, 55 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: and none of them were located anywhere near Rochester. Luckily, 56 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: the town did have a few doctors, including William Worrel 57 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: Mayo and his sons William and Charles. The morning after 58 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: the storm, the city converted its local dance hall into 59 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: a makeshift emergency room. Doctor Mayo and his sons took 60 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: charge of the operation, and their efforts were greatly assisted 61 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: by the convent of the Sisters of Saint Francis. A 62 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: few months later, once most patients were back on their feet, 63 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: Mother Mary Alfred proposed that the Sisters and the Mayos 64 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: keep their partnership going. The disaster had shown that the 65 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 1: people of Rochester needed a permanent hospital, and Mother Alfred 66 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: thought they should be the ones to give it to them. 67 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: Her idea was for the Sisters to train to be 68 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: nurses and hospital administrators, and for the Mayos to serve 69 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: as the resident physicians and surgeons. The Mayos weren't convinced 70 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: their small town could sustain an expensive hospital, but once 71 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 1: the Sisters had raised all the funds needed to build it, 72 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: they happily signed onto the project. The medical center opened 73 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty nine as Saint Mary's Hospital, but everyone 74 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: in town called it the Mayo Clinic, and in nineteen 75 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: fourteen that became its official name. The hospital's reputation grew quickly, 76 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: and the small staff was soon joined by other doctors. 77 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: The Sisters of Saint Francis also opened a nursing school, 78 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: and in this way, the Mayo Clinic grew from a 79 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: small community hospital into one of the largest and most 80 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: respected medical centers in the world. In the years since then, 81 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: the organization has developed a reputation for its breakthrough work 82 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: in medicine, including real time tumor analysis and the discovery 83 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,719 Speaker 1: of cortisone. Its doctors were also the first to develop 84 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,919 Speaker 1: a standardized patient medical record, an innovation that's now become 85 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: the norm worldwide. Despite what Hollywood might tell us, it's 86 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: not currently possible to disrupt or control a tornado, but 87 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: as the founders of the Mayo Clinic showed, we can 88 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: influence what happens once the storm has passed. I'm Gabe Bluesyay, 89 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 90 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep 91 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 92 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 93 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my 94 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:26,600 Speaker 1: way by writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. 95 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: Thanks to kazb Bias for producing the show, and thanks 96 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,119 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 97 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in history class.