The Great Fire of London
In the early hours of the morning of 2th September 1666, a fire broke out in King Charles II's bakery in Pudding Lane in London. The fire, which raged for four days and nights, destroyed most of the capital. More than 13,000 houses, 87 churches and most of the main buildings of London were destroyed, leaving nearly 200,000 people destitute.

Fires were common at the time and firefighting primarily consisted of demolishing buildings downwind of the fire. However, demolition was delayed by several hours, mostly because the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bloodworth, dithered. On Sunday evening, the King intervened, directly ordering the demolition ("spare no houses") – but by then it was too late and the fire had gathered momentum.