On this day in 1922, the Knickerbocker Theatre, located in Washington, D.C., collapsed. A blizzard caused the theatre’s fall.

The blizzard formed in North and South Carolina on January 26th, and moved into the Washington area the next day. For two days, snow covered the United State’s capital, resulting in accumulations of more than two feet. This large amount of snow delayed transportation and caused the government to shut down.

Things began to calm down on Saturday night. The Knickerbocker Theatre was open and 300 people went to see a film. During the middle of the film, all of the snow layering on the top of the theatre caused the ceiling to collapse with tons of steel coming down with the fall. 108 people were killed and 133 were injured. Rescuers worked through the night to pull people out from beneath the rubble.

President Warren Harding issued his personal condolences to the families of the victims, which included a former congressman. A subsequent investigation by Army engineers blamed poor construction materials for the collapse.