Throughout history, many riots have stemmed from discrimination, societal and political differences, poverty, sports, and drunkenness, just to name a few causes. But other times, strange events spark a clash involving unusual groups of people. These clashes escalate to levels where they turn destructive and even deadly, leading to the most unusual riots in history.
10 Disco Demolition Night
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In the late 1970s, disco had a sizable number of vocal and venomous detractors. One notable critic of the genre was Chicago rock radio DJ Steve Dahl, who became popular for his “Disco Sucks” stance. Knowing that Dahl was popular and people genuinely didn’t like disco, the son of the owner of the Chicago White Sox, Mike Veeck, thought that it would be a good promotional idea to host a Disco Sucks night. On July 12, 1979, Dahl’s listeners could get into the doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers for 98 cents. They were also required to bring a disco record with them because Dahl was going to blow up a pile of disco records.
Veeck didn’t think the promotion would be that popular, so he hired enough security to handle about 35,000 people. But Veeck underestimated people’s hatred of disco. Over 60,000 people showed up. Some even brought ladders and climbed fences to get in.
During the first game, the crowd seemed rowdy. The Tigers won, but that wasn’t the spark that set everything off. That happened when Dahl
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blew up the records as planned. After the explosion, people poured out onto the field and started trashing the stadium. Both Dahl and Veeck tried to calm the crowd, but they failed. The rioters literally stole bases, tore apart batting cages, and set fire to banners.
Amazingly, during the riot, only one person was hurt: a vendor who broke his hip. Despite it being a destructive riot, it was relatively peaceful. Veeck believed this was due to the marijuana that people were smoking. He compared it to the much more violent beer promotion in 1974 in Cleveland, where they sold beer for 10 cents a cup. That somehow got out of hand.
In total, 39 people were arrested for the Disco Sucks riot. Veeck considered the promotion a success because people still remember it 30 years later.
9 The Great Police Riot
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When a riot breaks out, the first people who respond are usually the police. But what happens when the police are the ones doing the rioting, as on June 16, 1857, in New York City?
In 1857, the mayor of New York was Fernando Wood, and he was notoriously corrupt. The state was run by the Republicans, Wood was a Democrat, and the Republicans were looking to exert more power over the city. To deal with both issues, the state passed a bill that created the Metropolitan Police Force, and they would have police authority over New York City, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Williamsburg. Mayor Wood didn’t like the ruling and refused to disband the Municipal Police Force. So during the spring of 1857, there were two police forces roaming the streets of New York. It was only a matter of time before the two forces clashed.
In June, things heated up when police officers confiscated criminals whom the other police force had arrested. Things took a more violent
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turn on June 16, when the Metropolitan Police Force tried to arrest Mayor Wood at City Hall. A riot between 800 Municipal and 50 Metropolis police officers erupted, and there were fights in the hallways and in front of City Hall. More than 50 people were injured in the riot.
On July 2, Mayor Wood finally disbanded the Municipal Police Force. The Supreme Court of New York ruled that the Metropolitan Police Force had police jurisdiction over New York City, and they sent the militia to back them up. Two days after the police were disbanded, the famous Dead Rabbits riots, which were depicted in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, broke out in the Five Points.
8 The Old Price Riots
In December 1808, a fire broke out in the Covent Garden Theatre in London. It destroyed the building and many of the costumes inside of it.
The owner of the theater set to work to rebuild. The construction and buying new costumes was costly, so when the new theater was set to open nine months after the fire, the manager, John Philip Kemble, increased the prices slightly. For example, one section had a price increase from six shillings to seven shillings.
The riots started on the opening night, which was Macbeth, with Kemble playing the main role. People made noise, banging pans. The protests, which consisted of several riots, lasted two months. Furthering the problems, the owner of the theater hired boxers as enforcers, which only escalated the violence.
The riot finally came to an end when Kemble agreed to lower the prices and apologized for raising the prices and hiring the boxers.
