Jan. 15 – On this day in Montana history in 1895 what came to be known as “The Great Dynamite Explosions” in Butte left nearly 50 people dead including seven members of the fire department. “The specter of death hovered o’vr Butte last night, and never in the history of Montana has a newspaper been called upon to chronicle a more appalling disaster,” a reporter wrote. Firemen were fighting a fire at a warehouse on Utah Ave. in South Butte, and a large crowd had gathered. The fire touched off a large stockpile of dynamite stored inside and ripped through the crowd with ferocious thunder.