A fire on Christmas Eve 1851 destroyed two-thirds of the Library of Congress's collection.
Notes on verification
Corroborated by multiple independent, authoritative sources including the Library of Congress's own website, HISTORY.com, Wikipedia, and Britannica Kids. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.925 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- Library of Congress | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica (seed:culture_and_philosophy)
- https://loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html (corroboration)
- https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-24/fire-ravages-library-of-congress (corroboration)