Did you know in 1871 the Great Chicago Fire destroyed over 20,000 structures in a single day? Chicago Mayor Joseph Medill, of the “Fireproof Party”, delivered strong words during his inaugural address a few months after the tragedy and declared that “the outside walls and roof of every building, to be hereafter erected within the limits of Chicago, should be composed of materials as incombustible as brick, stone, iron, concrete or slate.”