Today marks the 99th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The blaze in a lower Manhattan building killed 146 immigrant garment workers, almost all of them women.
The fire started at 4:00 PM on a Saturday. Many women were burned to death, and others died as they jumped out of the building in an attempt to escape the flames. The fire led to public outcry over sweatshop conditions in the garment industry and resulted in new worker-safety laws.
City officials and union leaders will commemorate the anniversary of the fire at noon today. For more on the anniversary, visit WNYC.org.