Hartford Circus Fire 1944
In 1944, tragedy struck the Ringling Bros. Circus in Hartford, Connecticut, when a massive blaze tore through its big top. At the time, circus tents were waterproofed with paraffin wax, a method that backfired horribly as the wax fueled the flames. As the fire raged, 1,800 pounds of molten wax rained down from the roof, killing 167 people and injuring 700, most of them women and children.
One small victim, despite a nationwide publicity campaign with her photo in magazines, was never identified. She became known as "Little Miss 1565," and the investigating officers who never found her name left flowers on her grave every year until their own deaths. Adding to the eerie story, the man who confessed to setting the fire claimed he acted after a nightmare in which "an Indian riding a flaming horse" urged him to start blazes.