In August, 1896 record heat over a ten day period struck the Eastern United States. In New York city, the heat killed hundreds of people, and dramatically shifted the careers of two of the most important political figures of the era.
During the civil war, the manufacture of powder and explosives was often handled by the most vulnerable, young women and children, whose labor was needed when so many men had been sent off to war. On March 13, 1863, the confederacy experienced a munitions disaster, in the confederate capitol of Richmond.