On this day: March 2

The 1978 Cleveland Sniper Incidents: an early documented copycat wave

In March 1978 Cleveland experienced a series of sniper shootings and hoax threats that investigators later connected to earlier high-profile sniper attacks and inspired imitation incidents—an early documented example of a copycat crime wave in U.S. urban history.

The first documented copycat crime wave: the 1978 Cleveland Sniper incidents

On March 2, 1978, a pattern of shootings in Cleveland, Ohio, prompted authorities and scholars to label a spate of imitative crimes a nascent copycat wave — an early documented instance showing how media coverage and public fear can spur similar offenses.

Meireki Fire of 1657: Devastating blaze razes Edo, killing thousands

On March 2, 1657, the Great Fire of Meireki swept through Edo (modern Tokyo), destroying large parts of the city and causing an estimated tens of thousands of deaths and displacements; contemporaneous accounts and later estimates vary widely.

Meireki Fire (1657): Catastrophe that razed Edo

The Meireki Fire swept through Edo in early March 1657, destroying large parts of the city and causing an immense civilian death toll by contemporary accounts; its scale reshaped urban planning and governance in Tokugawa Japan.