1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,600 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. We're doubling up today with two 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: events in history, one from me and one from former 3 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:12,960 Speaker 1: host Tracy V. Wilson on with the show. Welcome to 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: this day in History Class. It's July today. In nift 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: the S S. Eastland capsized in Chicago and it killed 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: more than eight hundred people. Here's the story. The Eastland 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: was built in n two and it was meant to 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: be a fast ship. Had nicknames like the speed Queen 9 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: of the Great Lakes and the Greyhound of the Lakes. 10 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: Its purpose originally was to carry passengers from Chicago across 11 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: Lake Michigan and then come back to Chicago with produce 12 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: to sell. It could carry about two thousand people, with 13 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: sleeping accommodations for about five people. And it was a 14 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: fast ship, like I said earlier, but not quite fast 15 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: enough to do two round trips a day, which is 16 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: what its owners wanted to do to be able to 17 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: make enough money off of it. So it underwent some 18 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: retro fit in both to make it faster and to 19 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: provide more passenger capacity. It hadn't really been reported to 20 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: have problems before the retro fit, but afterward it had 21 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: some issues with stability. On July four it almost capsized 22 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: with almost three thousand people on board. It also developed 23 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: a serious list to one side on August five of 24 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: that year. The Joseph Chicago Steamship Company bought it in 25 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, and at that point it had a reputation 26 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: for being somewhat less than stable. It was not about 27 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: people really trusted at that point. Then, in nineteen fifteen, 28 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation known as the Siemens Act. 29 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 1: This Act had a lot of provisions that affected lots 30 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,479 Speaker 1: of different aspects of marine work. A lot of it 31 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: was the result of lobbying by the International Siemens Union 32 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: of America. It had to do with things like workplace 33 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: conditions and working hours and that sort of a thing. 34 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: But another huge influence on this legislation was the sinking 35 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: of the Titanic and the perception the a lot more 36 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: people would have survived if only there had been enough lifeboats. 37 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: This is actually a much more complicated question, but even so, 38 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: the general public was demanding that boats and ships have 39 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: more lifeboats and more life rafts and more ways to 40 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: get people safely off of a sinking ship. So the 41 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,519 Speaker 1: Siemens Act mandated that there had to be lifeboats for 42 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: seventy five percent of people aboard the ships. Now, people 43 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: who worked with lake vessels like the Eastland that were 44 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: meant to go across relatively shallow, stable bodies of water 45 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: like lakes, we're worried about this legislation. They were afraid 46 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: all of this extra life saving equipment was going to 47 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: make ships that already had a little bit of a 48 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,679 Speaker 1: tendency to be unstable a lot more top heavy. It 49 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: was gonna make them a lot more dangerous. But in 50 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: the end those concerns weren't really factored into the final legislation. 51 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: On July two of nineteen fifteen, the Eastland got its 52 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: new supply of lifeboats and equipment, and on July twenty fourth, 53 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen, it was scheduled to make its first fully 54 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: loaded trip with all of that new equipment installed. It 55 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: was one of five vessels that were chartered by Western 56 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: Electric to take employees to a picnic at Washington Park 57 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,239 Speaker 1: in Michigan City, Indiana, across the other side of the 58 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: lake from Chicago, but it never left the dock on 59 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: the Chicago River. It started to tilt as people were boarding, 60 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: and the crew was not able to compensate by changing 61 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: the ballast tanks and the levels of water in them. 62 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: The boat reached capacity at seven ten in the morning, 63 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: and then, after alarmingly swaying back and forth several times 64 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: over the next eighteen minutes, it rolled completely onto its 65 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: side at seven None of the life jackets or life 66 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: rafts that had been added to the boat had been deployed. 67 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: There had been no time for any of that. Some 68 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: people were able to jump onto the dock from the boat, 69 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: or to scramble up the side as that side was 70 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: exposed from the water, but a lot of people who 71 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: were thrown into the river didn't know how to whim 72 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: and drowned. Almost everybody who was below decks when the 73 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: cap size happened wasn't able to make it out alive. 74 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: Most of the at least eight hundred forty four people 75 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: who died were factory workers. Twenty two entire families were killed. 76 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: The second Regiment Armory had to be used as a 77 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: temporary morgue, and there were so many people killed that 78 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: almost seven hundred funerals took place on the same day, 79 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: which was July. The American Red Cross Churches Civic organizations 80 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: all gave aid the scene, and they helped families make 81 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: funeral arrangements. There are also court proceedings that went on 82 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: for years afterwards, but none of them led to any convictions. 83 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,039 Speaker 1: A civil suit dragged on until nineteen thirty three, but 84 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: its terms limited the payout to the salvage value of 85 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: the Eastland minus the cost to raise it up from 86 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: the river, so the families of the deceased wound up 87 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:00,160 Speaker 1: receiving almost no compensation for this disaster. The u US 88 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,359 Speaker 1: Navy purchased and salvaged the Eastland and then it operated 89 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: as the U S s. Willamette until You can learn 90 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: more about this tragedy in the June episode of Stuffy 91 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: miss and History Class, and you can subscribe to This 92 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: Day in History Class on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts and 93 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: whatever else you get your podcasts. Next time you will 94 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: have a nineteenth century invasion during the Spanish American War. Hello, 95 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: welcome to this Day in History class, where we dusked 96 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: off a little piece of history every day. The day 97 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: was July nine. Agnes Meyer Driskell was born in Genesio, Illinois. 98 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: Discal a cryptanalyst who broke code during World War two 99 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 1: is No as the first Lady of Naval Cryptology from 100 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,160 Speaker 1: nineteen o seven to nineteen o nine. Agnes attended Otterban 101 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 1: College in Columbus, Ohio, but she transferred to Ohio State University, 102 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: where she studied math, physics, music, and foreign languages. She 103 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,359 Speaker 1: graduated in nineteen eleven with Bachelor of Arts degrees in 104 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: math and physics. Agnes was proficient in English, French, German, Latin, 105 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: and Japanese. Once she graduated, she moved to Armarillo, Texas, 106 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: where she worked as the director of music at the 107 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: Lowry Phillips Military Academy. She was also the head of 108 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: the math and music departments at two high schools while 109 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:41,679 Speaker 1: she was in Armarillo. In nineteen eighteen, one year after 110 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: the US declared war on Germany, Agnes enlisted in the U. S. 111 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: Navy and was given the rank of Chief Yeoman. She 112 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: was assigned to the Postal and Cable Censorship Office in Washington, 113 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: d C. Then transferred to the Code and Signal Section 114 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: of the Director of Naval Communications, where she remained throughout 115 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,679 Speaker 1: World War One. The section was responsible for protecting naval 116 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: communications by encoding America's messages. Agnes got her start developing 117 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: codes here. She even co developed one of the Navy's 118 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: cipher machines, the Communications Machine, or c M. Once the 119 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: First World War ended, Agnes stayed with the code in 120 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: Signal section as a civilian. In nineteen she worked in 121 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: the Department of Cipher's at Riverbank Laboratories in Illinois, which 122 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: hosted a team of people who deciphered code. She also 123 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: solved a supposedly unbreakable cipher that was advertised by rotor 124 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: machine inventor Edward Heaven in a magazine. Heaven hired her 125 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: to the Heathern Electric Code Company to help develop an 126 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: improved rotor driven cipher device for the Navy, but his 127 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: company ended up failing. Agnes also worked in New York 128 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: at Herbert O. Yard Least Cipher Bureau, an agency that 129 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: broke diplomatic codes. In she married a lawyer named Michael Driscoll. 130 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: That same year, she joined the Navy's Cryptographic Research Desk 131 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: later renamed O P twenty G. As a crypt analyst 132 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: under Lawrence Stafford, Agnes wrote code from the Japanese Navy's 133 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: main operational code book, nicknamed the Red Book. She figured 134 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: out that the Japanese were encoding their messages using a 135 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: method called columnar transposition. She also broke the Japanese Blue Book, 136 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: which also contained super encipherments, or a method that contains 137 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: code and cipher. In cryptography, a code takes a whole 138 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: word or phrase and replaces it with another word, series 139 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: of letters, or string of numbers, while a cipher takes 140 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: a single letter or number and replaces it with another 141 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: single letter or number. As the Japanese continued to come 142 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: up with new coding systems, Driscoll successfully cracked them and 143 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: helped the Navy get insight on Japanese fuel supplies, ship accidents, 144 00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: naval maneuvers, and other secret critical Japanese naval communication. She 145 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: solved the cipher component of the Japanese fleet's operational code 146 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: J and a FEAT that helped provide warning of Japan's 147 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: attack on Midway Island. The U. S. Navy was able 148 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: to fully exploit the code after the attack on Pearl 149 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: Harbor and for the rest of the Pacific War. Though 150 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: she was assigned to the task of breaking Germany's naval codes, 151 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: specifically working on the Enigma device, her team was not 152 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: able to solve the problem. Over the years, Driscoll also 153 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 1: mentored other naval cryptologists and intelligence officers, including Thomas Dyer 154 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,959 Speaker 1: and edwin Leyden. She got in a car accident in 155 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty seven in which she sustained injuries that she 156 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: never fully recovered from. Driscoll was a principal cryptanalyst for 157 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: the Navy until the end of nineteen fifty. After that, 158 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 1: she worked for the Armed Forces Security Agency, later to 159 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: become the National Security Agency. She retired from active federal 160 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: service in nineteen fifty nine. She died in and was 161 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: buried in Arlington National Cemetery. I'm Eve jeffco and hopefully 162 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: you know a little more about history today than you 163 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you have any burning questions or comments 164 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 1: to tell us, you can find us on Twitter, Instagram, 165 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: and Facebook at t d i h C podcast. Thanks 166 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: again for listening, and I hope you come back tomorrow 167 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:41,199 Speaker 1: for more delicious morsels of history. For more podcasts from 168 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 169 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.