The Cocoanut Grove was a night club in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Barney Welanskey, a man who boasted of his ties to the Mafia and the Boston mayor's office. On November 28, 1942, the nightclub burned in what was the deadliest nightclub fire in United States history, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more. The fire led to a reform of fire codes and safety standards across the country. A nightclub (often dance club or club, particularly in the UK) is an entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. ... Nickname: Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe), Athens of America Location in Massachusetts Founded  -Incorporated September 17, 1630 1820, as a city  County Suffolk County Mayor Thomas Menino (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 232. ... // Background The Mafia, also referred to in Italian as La Cosa Nostra (variously translated as This Thing Of Ours or Our Thing), is the name for a secret, criminal organisation which evolved in mid 19th century Sicily, and led to an offshoot on the East-Coast of the United States... November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... A nightclub (or a dance club in the UK; usually shortened to club in the US) is an entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. ...

The fire

On the evening of the 28th the club, a former speakeasy, was filled with 1,000 occupants. The official capacity was around 460. The restaurant and lounge were decorated with flammable paper palm trees, cloth drapes covering the ceiling, and other flimsy decorations which obscured exit signs. A Speakeasy was an establishment that was used for selling and drinking alcoholic beverages during the period of U.S. history known as Prohibition, when selling or buying alcohol was illegal. ... Toms Diner, a restaurant in New York made familiar by Suzanne Vega and the television sitcom Seinfeld A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to be consumed on the premises. ...

Official reports state the fire began downstairs in the club's Melody Lounge around 10:15 p.m. An artificial palm tree caught fire when 16-year-old busboy Stanley Tomaszewski struck a match for illumination while changing a light bulb. The fire quickly spread up the paper tree, igniting the decorations on the walls and ceiling. Within fifteen minutes the entire nightclub was ablaze. Household safety matches Ignition of a match burning match This article refers to the implement used to create a flame. ... The incandescent light bulb uses a glowing wire filament heated to white-hot by electrical resistance, to generate light (a process known as thermal radiation). ...

The club's main entrance was a single revolving door, immediately rendered useless as the panicked crowd scrambled for safety. Bodies piled up behind the jammed door, which firefighters had to dismantle in order to get inside. Other avenues of escape were similarly useless: side doors had been welded shut to prevent people from leaving without settling their bills. A plate glass window which could have been smashed for escape was instead boarded up. Other unlocked doors opened inwards; fire officials later testified that had the doors swung outwards, at least 300 lives could have been spared. Welding is a joining process that produces coalescence of materials (typically metals or thermoplastics) by heating them to welding temperature, with or without the application of pressure or by the application of pressure alone, and with or without the use of filler material. ...

The aftermath

Boston newspapers were filled with lists of the dead and stories of narrow escapes and deaths. Movie star Buck Jones had made it safely outside, but died two days later in the hospital. Stories claimed that Buck had gone back in to rescue people. Similarly, Coast Guardsman Clifford Johnson had gone back in no less than four times in search of his date who, unbeknownst to him, had already safely escaped. Johnson suffered extensive third-degree burns over 50% of his body but survived the disaster, spending 10 months convalescing in Boston City Hospital. The undefeated Boston College football team had made victory party reservations at the club that evening, but canceled after an upset loss to Holy Cross dampened their spirits. Buck Jones (born Charles Gebhart, December 4, 1889, Vincennes, Indiana; d. ... Coast Guard shield The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the coast guard of the United States. ... Boston College is an elite private university located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts in the New England region of the United States. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... The College of the Holy Cross is an exclusively undergraduate Jesuit college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. It was founded by Benedict Joseph Fenwick, SJ, second Bishop of Boston, after his efforts to found Boston College were thwarted by the citys Protestant civic leaders. ...

In the year that followed the tragedy, Massachusetts and other states begin to enact laws for public establishments which banned flammable decorations and inward-swinging exit doors, required exit signs to be visible at all times, and stated that revolving doors used for egress must be flanked by at least one normal, outward swinging door. Barney Welansky, whose connections had allowed the nightclub to operate even while in violation of the loose standards of the day, was convicted on nineteen counts of manslaughter (nineteen victims were randomly selected to represent the dead) and sentenced to twelve to fifteen years in prison. The young busboy Tomaszewski, who had survived the fire and testified at the inquiry, was exonerated, as he was not the one responsible for the flammable decorations or the safety code violations. State nickname: Bay State Other U.S. States Capital Boston Largest city Boston Governor Mitt Romney (R) Official languages English Area 27,360 km² (44th)  - Land 20,317 km²  - Water 7,043 km² (25. ...

Today, a Radisson Hotel sits on the site of the nightclub. Per order of the Boston Licensing Board, no Boston establishment may again call itself the Cocoanut Grove.

External links

• The Boston Globe archives, featuring coverage of the tragedy from 1942
• Article on Buck Jones and his role, if any, in rescuing victims from the fire