July 6, 1944

Hartford, Conn. – The Ringling Bros. circus tent catches fire during a performance, sending an audience estimated at 6,000 scrambling to escape. It was the worst circus fire in U.S. history, with a final death toll of 168 people.

Charles Nelson Reilly recalls the Hartford circus fire.

Here is a 1991 story by Nita Lelyveld (then with the Associated Press, now with The Times) about the identification of “Little Miss 1565.”

Here is the Hartford Courant’s 2014 retrospective.

There is a discussion of the fire today at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, featuring authors Stewart O’Nan and Mike Skidgell, who have written about the tragedy, but it is sold out.

From the Norwalk Hour.