Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (February 3, 1916)

I was alerted to this historical event by a Reader’s Digest post on MSN.

The fire started at 8:37 p.m. in the Centre Block near the House of Commons. Francis Glass, an MP from Nova Scotia, was in the Reading Room when he noticed a pile of papers aflame. He quickly alerted a nearby constable, but because the room was lined with varnished wood panelling and filled with newspapers, the flames engulfed it within minutes. Meanwhile, in the House of Commons, MPs were in the middle of a debate. The topic? The high prices of fish.

I blame it on Mars, the planet of ‘fiery’ emotion. Its opposition to two planets and two lights in Aquarius seems spectacular. And the double T-square of the Ascendant and Midheaven with Venus/Jupiter on the Descendant seems to fit the timing of the event to a ‘tee’. The extra push of a square between Jupiter and Pluto may have been the ignition spark. The trine between Jupiter and Neptune means that the cause is still unknown.

What do you think?