The Royal Exchange burns down in the Great Fire of London.

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of London from September 2 to September 6, 1666. The fire began in a bakery on Pudding Lane and quickly spread across the city, fueled by wooden buildings and tightly packed streets. The fire destroyed a significant portion of the city, including 87 churches, 13,200 houses, and numerous other buildings, including iconic structures such as St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Despite the extensive destruction, the number of lives lost was relatively small, with only a few recorded deaths, though it’s believed there may have been more unrecorded casualties. The fire led to a massive rebuilding effort, which included new building regulations that aimed to prevent such a disaster from happening again. It also marked the end of the medieval city and the beginning of a more modern London, with wider streets and brick or stone buildings replacing the wooden structures that had been common before the fire.