Canonical Events

Tragic Train Crash (August 15, 1904)

This is first mentioned in William Carter's 4 puzzle, but was shown in more detail in the animated short The Incredible Strongman. The Abernethy & Parker circus was driven out of town after Wolfgang's act was shown to be fake, found its caravan stuck on a train track. The staff prioritized saving a baby elephant from inside the car on the tracks, and allowed the train to collide with the cart and detail. William Carter was stuck under one of the train cars after the crash, and used the Codex Umbra to give Wolfgang the strength to lift the train car before fleeing. Wolfgang seeking to reclaim that unnatural strength is insinuated in the short's description to be a likely part of the bargain that would later see him enter the constant, though this is not definitively confirmed.

Fourth puzzle

On August 23, 1904, an article is published in The Daily Speaker. It says that the circus cart of the Abernethy & Parker circus stopped on the railroad because of the elephant. Then the train crashed into the wagon. It happened in the desert at the Old Mill crossing. At this point, William Carter is considered dead. Some circus monkeys have escaped. According to William's ticket, the accident happened on August 15, 1904.

Newspaper quote:

TRAGIC TRAIN CRASH

Circus wagon struck at crossing

Many passenger injuries reported

Elephant unharmed

A passenger​ train struck a circus wagon that had broken down along the tracks at the Old Mill crossing. Dozens of passengers were injured, and at least one man is missing. The missing man has yet to be identified, but fellow passengers described him as a tall, nervous fellow with an English accent. A search party was convened but quickly abandoned when it became apparent that a [Second column begins after tear in the first column] cage full of potentially dangerous trained monkeys had been vacated in the collision. Given the remoteness of the crash site, the scorching desert sun, and the escaped animals, the missing man has been presumed dead.

This is the third such incident at the crossing since the railway's construction in 1873, but the first to involve a circus wagon. Local businessman and railway investor Harold J. Rutherford assured this publication that all pertinent safety precautions had been taken, but no one could have foreseen the appearance of such a dangerous blockage on the tracks 

The date of the paper is August 23, 1904.

Earthquake in San Francisco (April 17, 1906)

Fourth puzzle

After the final act of Maxwell and Charlie, they got into the Constant, and in the San Francisco world, an earthquake began at 05:12:27. The final act is discussed in more detail in The Amazing Maxwell - The Final Act The earthquake itself is a real event. It was also mentioned in The Curtain Calls, which says that Wigfrid disappeared shortly after the earthquake.

The Exposition Universelle Brussels (1910)

Screen from "Don't Starve Together: Survival Guide - Firewood"

For the first time, information about this event can be found in a short film about Winona. However, in "Don't Starve Together: Survival Guide - Firewood" you can find out that Robert Wagstaff was present. It's also a real event, during which a big fire on the 14th and 15th of August gutted several pavilions in the Solbosch part of the exhibition. Part of the Belgian and French sections were destroyed, but the worst hit was the English section. After the fire, some destroyed parts were rebuilt at a rapid pace. This event attracted the attention of the public and the organisers were able to successfully use it for the promotion of the exhibition.

Gallery

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  Real The Exposition Universelle Brussels

New York State Capitol fire (March 29, 1911)

On March 29, 1911, a fire destroyed substantial portions of the New York State Capitol, including vast holdings of the New York State Library and the New York State Museum. It destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of documents and books. It was shown in the short One For The Books. At this time, Wickerbottom worked there. The library also had a secret room in which Wickerbottom kept information from the Codex Umbra, as well as from Maxwell's books. During the fire, Maxwell appeared to Wickerbottom and offered a deal to keep all the important information of the library. Wickerbottom agreeing to the deal ends up in the Constant. Maxwell's shadow takes passages from the Codex Umbra. The fire itself was tripled by Willow. Terrorbeak also appears in the short film, which was accidentally summoned by Maxwell before hitting the Constant during the ritual. This event got on Winona's board. The fire is also a real historical event. The real historical event happened at 2:00 in the morning, but the events of the short depict it occurring at 5:00, likely PM given the library closing.

Gallery

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  New York State Capitol

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  On Winona Board

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  Real New York State Capitol

Voxola burns (1919)

A few days after production of the Voxola PR-76 radio, went into production the factory burned down. The event was first directly depicted in the Next of Kin short, six years after it was first mentioned. Winona was present, and instead of fleeing the building, investigated deeper and found a doorway/portal, similar to Maxwell's Door or the Jury-Rigged Portal but distinct from both. Wagstaff was being drawn in, but when she tried to grab hishand, the glove came off and the person still fell through. She took to repairing the portal, replacing a blown electrical component. Upon reactivating it, Charlie reached out instead with her appearance from before the reconciliation in the A New Reign trailer. After Charlie's shadow component took over, Winona was dragged into the Constant and the building collapsed, crushing the portal.

A minor character named Genny was also present during the fire. She threw herself into Winona's arms as the ceiling above her collapsed. She is known to have escaped safely, as a shot at the end of the short shows her collapse in grief when the building imploded with Winona inside. At least four other unknown employees also escaped.

Wilson missing (1921)

After parting ways with his university to avoid a large bill for damages he caused to their chemistry lab, the events of the Interference short show him taking up residence in a derelict house, which based on a flier in his hand for a nicer-looking one, he appears to have had bought sight-unseen. While dealing with all the clutter left behind by the previous owner, he found a key unlocking a hidden wall safe containing a Voxola PR-76.

This leads to the Forbidden Knowledge trailer, where Maxwell uses the PR-76 to reach out to Wilson after another experiment, offering him forbidden knowledge which he used to build an identical structure looking like Maxwell's Door in his home. Upon pulling the lever, he was dragged into the constant. This was stated to be the last entrance of a character into the constant during the development of Reign of Giants, but some DST-exclusive characters may have entered later on.