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The Great Fire burned for four days and nights through 13,200 houses and 87 chur
1666 Event

September 5

Great Fire of London Finally Ends: St. Paul's Cathedral Destroyed

The Great Fire burned for four days and nights through 13,200 houses and 87 churches, leaving 100,000 people homeless in the ruins of medieval London. The official death toll was six. Historians have argued for centuries that number is impossibly low — but documented mass graves haven't been found, and the crowded tenements that should've trapped the poorest Londoners burned mostly at night when many were awake. What rose from the ash was Christopher Wren's new St Paul's, 51 new parish churches, and the first city in Europe built with fire insurance in mind.

September 5, 1666

360 years ago

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