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On This Day: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146

On March 25, 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killed 146 people, mostly female immigrant workers. The tragedy led to the eventual enactment of many state and national workplace safety laws.

By UPI Staff
A police officer surveys the damage after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25, 1911, in New York, New York. File Photo by a Brown Brothers/Cornell University
1 of 4 | A police officer surveys the damage after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25, 1911, in New York, New York. File Photo by a Brown Brothers/Cornell University | License Photo

March 25 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1807, the English Parliament abolished the slave trade.

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In 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killed 146 people, mostly female immigrant workers. The tragedy led to the eventual enactment of many state and national workplace safety laws.

In 1947, a mine explosion in Centralia, Ill., killed 111 men, most of them asphyxiated by gas.

In 1954, the Radio Corporation of America began commercial production of color television sets.

File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI

In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and West Germany signed a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community, also known as the common market.

In 1965, white civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo of Detroit, 39, was killed on a road near Selma, Ala. Three Ku Klux Klansmen were convicted of violating Liuzzo's civil rights, but not for murder.

In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death at his palace in Riyadh by a "mentally deranged" nephew who was later executed.

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In 1990, an arson fire swept an overcrowded social club, the Happy Land, in the Bronx borough of New York City, killing 87 people. Cuban refugee Julio Gonzalez, the arsonist -- whose former girlfriend worked at the club and survived the fire -- was convicted on multiple counts of arson and murder. He died in prison in September 2016.

In 1994, U.S. forces completed a withdrawal from Mogadishu, Somalia, except for a small number of soldiers left behind to provide support for U.N. peacekeepers.

In 2006, an estimated 500,000 people protested in Los Angeles against U.S. House-approved bill that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally. The legislation, which also led to protests in other cities during this period, did not pass in the Senate.

File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

In 2010, an explosion sank a South Korean warship on patrol in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors. North Korea denied accusations it had torpedoed the ship.

In 2022, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died of a drug overdose in Bogatá, Colombia, shortly before the band were scheduled to perform. He was 50 years old.

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File Photo by Alexis C. Glenn/UPI

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