1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. Today's episode contains not just one, 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: but two nuggets of history. Consider it a double feature. 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: Enjoy the show. Hi, I'm Eves, and welcome to This 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a show that on covers a 5 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: little bit more about history every day. The day was 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: March nineteen eleven. A little before five in the afternoon 7 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: that Saturday, a cutter named Isadore Abrahma Witz at the 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: Triangle Shirt Waist Company factory in New York noticed a 9 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: fire in his scrap bin. In a matter of moments, 10 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: the fire was blazing, and unfortunately, the safety standards in 11 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: the factory were terribly poor, so a lot of workers 12 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: didn't make it out alive. The chaos lasted about eighteen minutes, 13 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: and the fire was under controlled by about a half 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 1: hour after it started, but one hundred and forty six 15 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: workers died, largely because workplace safety was so neglected at 16 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: the factory. The danger of conditions and factories like Triangle 17 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: Shirtwaist was no secret, and plenty of people died every 18 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: day in the workplace back in those days. As devastating 19 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: as the fire was, it did lead to labor reforms 20 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: in the early nineteen hundreds in New York. Factories were 21 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: known for the low wages they paid their workers, the 22 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: long hours employees were on the clock, and how unhygienic 23 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: and dangerous working conditions could be. And it was common 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: knowledge that fires posed a huge risk in factories. The 25 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: Triangle Waste Company factory was no exception. The factory at 26 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: twenty three to twenty nine Washington Place in the Ash 27 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: Building was owned by Max Blanc and Isaac Harris. Another 28 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: factory the pair owned, the Diamond Waste Company, had burned 29 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: twice before, and the Trying Shirtwaist Factory had burned before two. 30 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: Working conditions in the Triangle Factory were miserable also. Mostly 31 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: young Jewish and Italian immigrants and young women worked at 32 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: the factory making shirtwaists or button down blouses that were 33 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: modeled on menswear shirts. The workers were packed in rows 34 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: at sewing machines. They worked fifty two hours a week 35 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: and made from seven to twelve dollars for that week's 36 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: worth of work, which is about one eighty six to 37 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: nineteen dollars per week in today's money. They got basically 38 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: no breaks. Bins full of clothing material made perfect kindling 39 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 1: for fire and If a fire did happen, exit options 40 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: were dangerously limited. Workers had to leave at the Green 41 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: Street exit so they could be searched for any stolen 42 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: items one by one. The fire escape was narrow and unstable. 43 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: The fire coat was pretty much ignored here. In nineteen 44 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: o nine, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union led a 45 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: strike protesting the poor pay in long hours and factories. 46 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: When workers at shirt waste companies walked out, the Women's 47 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: Trade Union League advocated for them. BLONC and Harris, though 48 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: weren't into the idea of paying workers more and giving 49 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: them better hours. The garment industry had made some gains 50 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: during this time, like getting a grievance system, but workers 51 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: rights and conditions and factories were still subpar so. In 52 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: the afternoon of Saturday, March eleven, a fire broke out 53 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: on the top floors of the ash building where the 54 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: Triangle factory was located. It's not exactly clear how the 55 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: fire started, but it was determined to have been sparked 56 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: by a cigarette or a cigar that was thrown in 57 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: the scrap bin where the fire originated. The fire safety 58 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: measures that were willfully ignored in the factory could have 59 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: saved a lot of people from being caught in the blaze, 60 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: but the ninth floor door to the Washington Placed stair 61 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: was locked, possibly on purpose by the owners to prevent theft. 62 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: Some workers escaped on the elevators and some slid down 63 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: the elevator cables to exit, while some sadly fell down 64 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: the elevator shaft as they tried to get out. After 65 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: many people had fell off the fire escape, which stopped 66 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,280 Speaker 1: before the ground anyway, the whole stairway fell, killing the 67 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: people on it. Some people jumped from windows to escape 68 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,559 Speaker 1: the fire after they found no other way to exit 69 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: the burning building. The safety net firefighters set up below 70 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,359 Speaker 1: the windows broke, and the firefighters ladders were too short 71 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: to rescue people as they stopped at the seventh floor 72 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: and the fire was on the eighth. In a twisted 73 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: illustration of the class division and suppressed rights of industrial workers, 74 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: Harris Blank, blanks daughters and all the other workers on 75 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: the tenth floor, which was the executive floor, made it 76 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: out alive by taking the elevator or taking the stairs 77 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,799 Speaker 1: to the roof. The whole horrible ordeal lasted for about 78 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,360 Speaker 1: eighteen minutes. One forty six of the approximately five hundred 79 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: workers died. Martha Bisley brew Air wrote in the paper 80 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: Life and Labor that May Harrison Blanch the Triangle Company 81 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: have offered to pay one week's wages to the families 82 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: of the dead girls as though it were summer, and 83 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: they are giving them a vacation. The Triangle Waste Company 84 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: had moved to a new location and quote good working 85 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: order after the fire, though it was found that the 86 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: new location wasn't fireproof and a fire escape exit was 87 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: already blocked. In the wake of the disaster, people mourned 88 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: the loss of the workers, protested the unsafe conditions and factories, 89 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: and demanded Harris and Blanc go to trial. Progressive organizations 90 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: helped give out pensions and helped place injured workers in 91 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: jobs and homes. Blanc and Harris were charged with manslaughter 92 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: and the second degree under section eighty of the Labor Code, 93 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 1: which said that doors should not be locked during working hours. 94 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: They went to trial in December, but the owners were acquitted, 95 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: as the jury doubted that the owners knew the doors 96 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: were locked, even though a bunch of people testified that 97 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: they couldn't open the doors to the Washington Place exit 98 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,920 Speaker 1: twenty three civil suits were brought against Blanc and Harris, 99 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: but in the end they only paid seventy five dollars 100 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: for each person who died. After the fire, the Factory 101 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: Investigating Commission was established. Workplace safety mandates like sprinklers and 102 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: high rises and outward swinging exit doors spread across New 103 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: York into the rest of the US. In the years 104 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,840 Speaker 1: to follow, politicians began incorporating labor reform into their platforms, 105 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: and the emergence of more labor unions and the New 106 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: Deal was on the horizon. I'm Eve Steff Coote and 107 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 108 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: you did yes to day. If you'd like to learn 109 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,160 Speaker 1: more about the fire, you can listen to the episode 110 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: of Stuff You Missed in History Class called Fire at 111 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. If there's something that I missed 112 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: in an episode, you can share it on Twitter, Instagram 113 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: or Facebook at T d i h C Podcast. Thanks 114 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: for joining me on this trip through history. See you 115 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: here same place tomorrow. Hey y'all, it's Eves. Welcome to 116 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: another episode of This Day in History class. The day 117 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: was March. Dutch astronomer Christian Hikins first observed Saturn's largest moon, Titan. 118 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: Hikins studied law in mathematics at University of Leiden and 119 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: at the Orange College of Breda. After that, he stayed 120 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: at home and pursued his scientific interests thanks to the 121 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: financial support of his wealthy father. This period from sixteen 122 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: fifty to sixteen sixty six was a productive time in 123 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: Haikin's life. He and his brother devoted time to developing telescopes. 124 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: In the early sixteen fifties, he worked on improving his 125 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: telescopes by using a new way of grinding lenses that 126 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: increased clarity. Using his lenses, he was better able to 127 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,679 Speaker 1: observe the skies. In sixteen fifty five, he turned his 128 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 1: attention to Saturn. Back in sixteen ten, Galileo became the 129 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: first person to observe Saturn with a telescope. Back then, 130 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: there was confusion over Saturn's appearance. Galileo saw Saturn as 131 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: some sort of three part body with a large body 132 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: in the middle and two smaller lateral bodies. Astronomers thought 133 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: that two handles may have been attached to Saturn. Galileo did, however, 134 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: first observed Jupiter's moons around this time, but decades later, 135 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 1: Hikins was poised to make new discoveries with his improved telescope. 136 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: On March sixty five, he discovered Saturn's largest moon, which 137 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: we now know as Titan. At the time, Hikins named 138 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: it saturney Luna, which is Latin for Saturn's moon. He 139 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: published the discovery in a pamphlet called a New Observation 140 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: of Saturn's Moon. Mathematician and astronomer John Herschel suggested the 141 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: name Titan for Saturn's largest moon centuries later in in 142 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: eighteen forty seven publication. In the sixteen fifty nine, Hikins 143 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: unveiled his theory that Saturn was surrounded by a flat ring. 144 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 1: By the time he died in six he'd made many 145 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: contributions to optics, astronomy, and mechanics. Over the years, astronomers 146 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: discovered more of Saturn's moon, mouns Now. Saturn is said 147 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,599 Speaker 1: to have eighty two moons, though only fifty three of 148 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 1: them are confirmed and named. Since hykens initial observation, scientists 149 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: have learned a lot more about Titan. It's the second 150 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: largest moon in the Solar System, and it's about seven 151 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,079 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty nine thousand miles or one pot to 152 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: million kilometers from Saturn. It's cold and icy. It's also 153 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 1: the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere that's 154 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: mostly nitrogen like Earth's. Titan is also the only place 155 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: besides Earth known to have liquid in the form of rivers, lakes, 156 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: and seas on its surface. Liquid methane and ethane are present, 157 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: and there is likely an underground ocean of liquid water. 158 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: There could be environments with conditions suitable for life on Titan, 159 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:56,200 Speaker 1: but there is no evidence of life there. I'm Eve's 160 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: deaf coote and hopefully you know a little more about 161 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,839 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. And if you want 162 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: to send us a note, you can do so on 163 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,679 Speaker 1: social media on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at t d 164 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: i h C Podcast and you can also send us 165 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: an email at this day at I heart media dot com. 166 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For 167 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i heart 168 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 169 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: favorite shows.