One of the first laws of building code can be found in the Code of Hammurabi from 1760 BC, which states that "If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.”

The City of Chicago flag has four red stars, the second of which represents the Chicago Fire of 1871, which spawned many new building codes for Chicago with regards to fire safety and fire prevention.

The famous Palmer House in Chicago originally burned to the ground in the Great Chicago Fire on October 10th, 1871 a mere 13 days after opening. Immediately afterwards, Potter Palmer secured a loan and rebuilt the Palmer House across the street from the original location, declaring it to be “The World’s First Fireproof Building.”

Prior to 64 A.D. Emperor Nero developed a plan to improve the construction of public buildings with sound construction principals regarding fire resistance and sanitation. He was unable to put this plan into practice until Rome burned in 64 A.D., allowing him to rebuild. Popular theory is that he was involved in the burning of Rome.

Chicago’s Iroquois Theater Fire on December 30th, 1903 is considered the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history. Within the first 20 minutes, 571 lives were lost. The result was the creation of the panic bar (or crash bar) exit door device, which is now building code requirement for high occupancy spaces.

After the Victoria Hall disaster in Sunderland, England in 1883, all doors leading out of building must swing outward; after a stampede of children trying to exit the building rendered the inward swinging doors unable to open, 181 children died suffering from compressive asphyxia.

In February of 1904, fire broke out in the city of Baltimore. Fire companies were brought in from New York, Washington and Philadelphia to help but couldn’t because their fire hose couplings were unable to attach to Baltimore hydrants. This fire helped develop a standardized size for fire hose couplings nationwide.

The ceiling fire sprinkler dates back to 1874 where Henry S. Permelee, president of Mathusek Piano Works, invented the system in response to incredibly high insurance rates for his piano business. He called his creation the “automatic fire extinguisher.”

Exit signs in the US can be either red or green, though some cities and states have enacted building codes that specify one over the other. Exit signs in Maryland must have green lettering while New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago require red lettering.

On March 10th, 1933 a devastating earthquake hit southern California. Due to geological conditions and poor construction, water tanks fell through roofs, buildings collapsed and houses were displaced from their foundations. This led to the passing of the Field Act which mandated earthquake-resistant building practices.

In 1212, a major fire broke out at the London Bridge and surrounding areas causing roughly 3,000 deaths and leading to the city’s first mayor to ban the use of thatched roofs in construction of buildings.

One of the largest fires in London happened in September of 1666, gutting the city and destroying the homes of 70,000 inhabitants. The use of firebreaks was delayed by the mayor, which allowed the winds to create a firestorm. This led to the London Building Act of 1667 which provided that houses be built of brick or stone, and regulated the building and streets parameters.

Many of the first building code and factory safety laws of New York City came out of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25th, 1911, where 146 garment workers lost their lives. The American Society of Safety Engineers was founded immediately after, and the surviving building has since become a National Historic Landmark.

The American Society of Safety Engineers is the largest and oldest professional safety organization which exists to help supervise and consult with safety issues. They practice in 16 specialties, including mining, gas and oil, engineering, education, construction, health care, industrial hygiene, transportation and manufacturing.

Unofficially considered to be the world’s tallest wooden single family house, “Sutyagin’s Skyscraper” located in Arkhangelsk, Russia, despite its renowned accolades and name recognition for architectural uniqueness, was eventually sentenced by the city to demolition due to the violation of fire codes in its original engineering and design.