Patent Office 1877 fire

Okay kiddo, so there is something called a patent office where people can go and get special papers called patents for things they invent. These special papers help protect their inventions so that no one can copy them or steal them.

In the year 1877, there was a big fire that started in the patent office building. The fire was so big that it destroyed almost all of the patents that were inside. This was a really big problem because people who had gotten patents lost their protection and anyone could now copy their inventions without getting in trouble.

It was a really sad event because many inventors lost their hard work and had to start all over again. But the good news is that the government worked hard to try and recover as many of the patents as they could and people were still able to get new patents in the years to come.