Lisbon Destroyed: Earthquake and Tsunami Kill 90,000
Three massive shocks hit in under ten minutes. Lisbon — one of Europe's wealthiest cities, controlling a global empire — simply ceased to exist on the morning of All Saints' Day, when thousands were packed inside churches. The fires burned for five days. Prime Minister Pombal didn't panic; he buried the dead, rebuilt the streets on a grid, and invented modern urban planning. Between 60,000 and 90,000 dead. But the real shockwave was philosophical — Voltaire wrote *Candide* in response, and optimism as a worldview never fully recovered.
November 1, 1755
271 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on November 1
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