On this day: March 2

/on/march-2

1978 • neutral • 5 views

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

A late-1970s downtown Cleveland street scene at dusk: parked cars of the era, pedestrians in period clothing, and a police car with rooftop light bar parked near a cordoned sidewalk.

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.

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1657 • neutral • 4 views

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

Wide view of 17th-century Edo in flames: densely packed wooden houses and temple roofs burning, smoke filling the sky, small boats on a river in foreground with some carrying fleeing people and belongings.

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.

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