Disasters and Accidents is in General Things.
On 16th June 1883 one hundred and eighty-three children aged between three and fourteen were crushed to death at the Victoria Hall in Sunderland in a crowd surge for prizes following a variety show by travelling entertainers Mr. and Mrs. Fay. At the bottom of a staircase an inward opening door had been bolted to provide for the checking of tickets. The children at the front of the crowd became trapped and were crushed to death by the weight of the crowd behind them. The resulting inquiry led to legislation that public entertainment venues be fitted with a minimum number of outward opening emergency exits, which led to the invention of "push bar" emergency doors which remain in use today.