Mismatched Threads: The Mundane Flaw That Burned Baltimore

In February 1904, the city of Baltimore caught fire. It was a massive blaze, but surrounding cities like Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York immediately dispatched their best fire engines by train to help. When the reinforcements arrived, they realized they were completely useless. The threads on their fire hoses did not match the hydrants in Baltimore. As firefighters stood helplessly h...