The Great Fire of London broke out on 2 September 1666 in a bakery, and, within four days, engulfed two-thirds of the city, destroying more than 10,000 buildings. While the death toll was relatively low, the material damages are estimated to have reached ten million pounds at that time (approx. one billion pounds today). Only a few months earlier, London had been the victim of the last major plague in Europe. In some respects, the Great Fire was a chance for London to start over: post-fire reconstruction contributed significantly to the city’s modern form. Furthermore, the fire spurred a wave of innovation in property insurance in England, including contractor Nicholas Barbon’s “Phoenix Fire Office.”
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Further Readings:
- Porter, Roy. London: A Social History. 4th ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univerity Press, 2001.
- Tinniswood, Adrian. By Permission of Heaven: The Story of the Great Fire of London. New York: Riverhead Books, 2004.
Day:
2
Month:
9
Year:
1666