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The Great Fire of London
A bakery fire spreads across the city
A fire that began at a bakery on Pudding Lane burned for four days and destroyed much of the medieval city. London was rebuilt with more brick and stone, and Christopher Wren designed a new St Paul's Cathedral.
The fire began in the early hours of Sunday 2 September 1666 in a baker's shop on Pudding Lane, and strong winds and tightly packed wooden houses helped it spread. It burned until about 6 September, destroying thousands of houses, dozens of churches and old St Paul's Cathedral.
Only a handful of deaths were officially recorded, though the true figure was probably higher, because the poor were not always counted. Many of the city's people were left homeless and camped in fields outside the walls.
The rebuilding rules made brick and stone the standard and widened streets. Christopher Wren designed the new St Paul's and dozens of parish churches, and the Monument near Pudding Lane still marks the fire. Samuel Pepys's diary is one of the best eyewitness accounts. He famously buried his wine and a wheel of Parmesan cheese in his garden to protect them.
It came just a year after the Great Plague of 1665. Historians caution against assuming the fire ended the plague, since the epidemic was already fading before the flames.