In 1911 John Mahoney, a freight handler at Chicago’s South Walker Street terminal, was overcome by heat prostration. That isn’t in itself unusual, heat stroke is not uncommon in Chicago’s hot and humid summers. What was unique about Mr. Mahoney is that he was overcome while working on November 11. His was, newspapers reported, the first incidence of heat prostration ever recorded in Chicago in the month of November. What is, perhaps, even more bizarre, the very next day two men were found in the city frozen to death.
People affected by the Southern California wildfires of January, 2025 might rightfully ask why lessons were not learned a century ago.