Historical eventSeptember 21666

Great Fire of London

A large fire began in London's Pudding Lane and burned for five days, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and the homes of 70,000 of the city's 80,000 inhabitants.

Everything on September 2Original source

In context

When
Thursday, September 2 1666360 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
17th century · 1660s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

The Gregorian calendar was in use in Catholic Europe from 1582, but Britain and its colonies kept the Julian calendar until 14 September 1752 — sources from those places may date this event 10–11 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: From 1666.

What happened

A large fire began in London's Pudding Lane and burned for five days, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and the homes of 70,000 of the city's 80,000 inhabitants.

September 2 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1666Great Fire of London
  2. 2011Chilean Air Force
  3. 2013Eastern span replacement of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge
  4. 2018National Museum of Brazil fire
  5. 2019Hurricane Dorian
  6. 2019Sinking of MV Conception
  7. 20222022 Herat mosque bombing
  8. 2023Aditya-L1
  9. 2024Chicago "L"
  10. 20242024 Qala Bakhtiar bombing
  11. 20242024 Makala jailbreak attempt

Also in 1666

  • September 4Great Fire of LondonThe most destructive damage from the Great Fire of London (depicted) occurred.

Everything we record for 1666 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Great Fire of London”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/great-fire-of-london-1666-september-2, accessed October 27, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Great Fire of London happen?

September 2 1666 — 360 years ago, on a Thursday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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