September 2

On this day – 2. September 1666 - The great fire of London 

The fire started on the 2. of September 1666 and lasted for three days, until the 5th of September. The fire started in a bakery and a French watchmaker was later hanged for starting the fire (although it was later proved that he had not been in the city when the fire started and thus could not be responsible for it). The fire ruined the medieval parts of London and around 13.000 houses were burned to the ground in the few devastating days the fire lasted. Around 70.000 people (out of the 80.000 who lived in central London) were affected by the fire, but only a few people were registered as deseased in the fire. However, no one really knows how many people died from the fires, since the deats of those in the lower classes were not registered.  

London a few years before the fire