February 26, 1918: The Happy Valley Racecourse Fire

February 26, 1918: A fire strikes the Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong. It results in the deaths of 614 people.

Hong Kong was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Dynasty ceded Hong Kong Island in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, as a consequence of losing the First Opium War. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860, and was further extended when the United Kingdom obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898.

The colony grew quickly. When the British took over, they counted 7,450 people there. But 1861, it was 119,000. By 1891, 221,000. By the time of the fire in 1918, about 600,000. One thing that has never changed in this incredibly densely populated city: Even through all the years of British control, the population remained over 90 percent Chinese.

The Happy Valley Racecourse was first built in 1845, to provide horse racing for the British people in Hong Kong. The area was previously swampland, but the only flat ground suitable for horse racing on Hong Kong Island. The Hong Kong Jockey Club was founded in 1884, in order to operate the Racecourse. Over the years, horse racing became more and more popular among the Chinese residents.

The annual "Derby Day" race was held every February, and a temporary grandstand was built to accommodate the extra spectators. On February 26, 1918, at around 3:00 PM local time -- about 7:00 AM in London, and about 2:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time -- a fire was caused by the collapse of the temporary grandstand on the second day of the event.

The collapse knocked over food stalls, which set bamboo matting ablaze. The district's fire department was so stretched that the marine police were called up to help fight the fire. The result may have been the worst sporting-venue tragedy in history.

Over the years, facilities have been added and extended, including extensively in 1995. Today, the seating capacity is listed as 55,000. Races in Happy Valley usually take place on Wednesday nights.

Hong Kong became, along with Tokyo, the leading business city in Asia. By the time the Japanese took over in 1941, the population was 1.6 million, but refugees fleeing dropped it to 600,000 in 1945. Restored to British control after World War II, it was up to 2 million in 1951, 3 million in 1961, 4 million in 1971, and 5 million in 1981.

As per treaty, Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997. Hong Kong maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China, under a principle called "one country, two systems." But these systems have come into conflict, as in the 2019 pro-democracy protests. According to the 2021 Census, the population of Hong Kong is now about 7.4 million. Of these, about 91 percent are Chinese, and less than half a percent are listed as "white."

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February 26, 1918 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. And there were no games scheduled for this day in the newly-formed NHL. So there were no scores on this historic day.