September 2, 1666
Christian clerics viewed the year 1666 with foreboding, believing that "666" symbolized
the apocalyptic number of the beast in Revelation. At the time, London was the world's
third-largest city, trailing only Constantinople and Paris. Just after midnight
on September 2, 1666, a gale was blowing over the English Channel so strong that
it scattered an English naval attack on Dutch vessels and blew the decimated navy
all the way to the Isle of Wight. When it roared into London, it was strong enough
to lift thatch roofs and sent the flames out from a baker's shop on Pudding Lane
to greater London. Read More About The London Fire
