The Great Fire of London broke out in a baker's shop on Pudding Lane and spread rapidly through the crowded timber houses of the medieval city, helped by dry weather and a strong wind. Burning for several days, it destroyed more than thirteen thousand houses, 87 parish churches and old St Paul's Cathedral, and left tens of thousands homeless. The recorded death toll was small, though it may have been underestimated. Samuel Pepys described the fire in his diary. Afterwards the city was rebuilt with brick and stone under new building rules, Christopher Wren designed a new St Paul's, and the Monument was erected to mark the fire.
Before and after
- from 1665 to 1666Great Plague of London
- 6 February 1665Birth of Anne of Great Britain
- from 4 March 1665 to 31 July 1667Second Anglo-Dutch War
- 1666Rise of 'Alawi dynasty
- from 2 September 1666 to 6 September 1666Great Fire of London
- 19 December 1666Founding of Lund University
- 1667Publication of Paradise Lost
- from 24 May 1667 to 2 May 1668War of Devolution
- from 9 June 1667 to 14 June 1667Raid on the Medway
More in Earth & climate
- 79 CEVesuvius buries Pompeii and Herculaneum
- from 1303 to 1850Little Ice Age
- from October 1347 to January 1351The Black Death reaches Europe
- 1938Establishment of Mount Olympus
- 2001Establishment of Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park
- 11 March 2020The WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 17th century.