events
April 23, 1940
The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
Rhythm Club fire
The Rhythm Club fire was a fire in a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi on the night of April 23, 1940, which killed 209 people and severely injured many others. Hundreds of people were trapped inside the building. It is the fourth deadliest assembly and club fire in U.S. history.
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was a prominent city in the antebellum years, a center of cotton planters and Mississippi River trade.