July 9, 1937: The Fox Vault Fire

July 9, 1937: A fire breaks out in a 20th Century Fox film storage facility in Little Ferry, Bergen County, New Jersey. It was caused by the spontaneous combustion of nitrate film stored in inadequately-ventilated vaults. The fire resulted in one death and two other injuries, and destroyed all of the film in the vault.

This fire was responsible for the loss of most of the silent films produced by Fox Film Corporation before 1932, resulting in several "lost films," including every film made by the legendary "vamp" Theda Bara, and by Evelyn Nesbit, the focal point of the 1906 "Murder of the Century" of her ex-boyfriend Stanford White by her husband Harry Thaw. Also destroyed were Educational Pictures negatives, and films of several other studios.

It brought attention to the potential for decaying nitrate film to spontaneously ignite, and changed the focus of film preservation efforts to include a greater focus on fire safety.

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July 9, 1937 was a Friday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 16-2 at Yankee Stadium. Monte Pearson went the distance for the win. Lou Gehrig went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Joe DiMaggio went 5-for-5 with 2 home runs, a walk, and 7 RBIs.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, 1-52 at Ebbets Field. Babe Phelps went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Gibby Brack went 3-for-4 with 2 walks and 3 RBIs. Buddy Hassett went 3-for-6 with an RBI. Joe Stripp, from nearby Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey (and thus known as "Jersey Joe") went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs.

* The Boston Bees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0 at National League Park in Boston. Jim Turner pitched a 5-hit shutout. After a disastrous 1935 season, the Boston Braves "re-branded" themselves and Braves Field. The name changes never caught on, and, in 1941, they returned to the previous names.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 12-11 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The A's scored 6 runs in the 8th inning, but the BoSox scored 4 in the 9th to send it to extra innings. Both teams scored 3 runs in the 10th. In the top of the 12th, Joe Cronin, the Sox' shortstop and manager, doubled Ben Chapman home with the winning run. Cronin went 4-for-6 with 4 RBIs. Jimmie Foxx went 2-for-7 with 2 RBIs for the Sox against his former team.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 13-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Paul Waner went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and Lloyd Waner went 3-for-3.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-8 at Navin Field (later renamed Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Hank Greenberg went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 11-7 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-7 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.