On this day, a three alarm fire gutted Scollay Square's Old Howard Theater. Though never proven, the fire was widely suspected to be arson, sponsored by interests who wanted the Old Howard cleared for the creation of government center.

Ironically the heart of Boston's burlesque scene began its life as a church for the apocalyptic Millerites. When the world didn't end as predicted, some of the parishioners rented the building as a theater. It became a private athenaeum for performing arts, then a public vaudeville venue, hosting the like of W.C. Fields, Abbott and Costello, Fannie Brice and Phil Silvers.

Legions of college students and service men filled the Howard as it began to feature exotic dancing. Even theater scholar Francis W. Hatch mourned the Howard's passing, as Scollay Square gave way to Government Center.