The Yarn Spinner

  The Iroquois Theater Fire The Titanic was said to be unsinkable, and the Iroquois Theater at 24-28 West Randolph Street in downtown Chicago was widely advertised as absolutely fireproof. Neither claim proved to be true. At a Wednesday matinee performance of Blue Beard nineteen hundred people filled the seats in the one million-dollar stage house. It was the new year December 30th, 1903. Sometime during the performance, a spark ignited the theater curtain. Someone yelled, “Lower the fire curtain! ”   and down it came, but not all the way down because of a mechanical problem. Some doors opened inward and not out, others were locked. New fire escapes had not yet been installed and the   theater had little fire extinguishing equipment on hand. Fire marshals were later accused of having taken bribes to overlook code violations. A few performers were able to escape using a   backstage door, but when they opened it, there was an explosion. It was a backdraft – ...

  Colorado Brown Stain   It was 1930 and Doctor Frederick McKay, a dentist in Colorado Springs Colorado, was troubled because so many of his patients were complaining   about brown-staining on their teeth that could not be explained by diet or their use of a dentifrice. Patients at other dental practices he came to learn experienced the same stains he called Colorado Brown Stain. Dr. McKay contacted the U.S. Public Health Service and joined in a collaborative investigation with Dr. H. Trendley who was Dean of this government agency to try and discover the cause. Dr. McKay, Dr. Trendley and a   team of researchers suspected that the common denominator in this instance might have something to do with water. Dr. Dean and his team conducted extensive studies in various communities across the United States to understand the relationship between water quality and dental health. They discovered that the stained teeth were a result of excessive fluoride in the water,...