HISTORY MEME → [1/2] NATURAL DISASTERS: The Great Fire of London (1666)

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall. It threatened, but did not reach, the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles II’s Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St. Paul’s Cathedral and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City’s 80,000 inhabitants. The death toll is unknown but traditionally thought to have been small, as only six verified deaths were recorded. This reasoning has recently been challenged on the grounds that the deaths of poor and middle-class people were not recorded, while the heat of the fire may have cremated many victims leaving no recognisable remains. (x)

Look guys, they built a monument.

Monument to the Great Fire of London of 1666 in the City of London. Did you know Monument is the tallest isolated stone column in the United Kingdom?

George finally finished his painting. I think it looks great.

Nostradamus (Michel de Nostredame) was a reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have become famous worldwide. He briefly studied medicine before acquiring an interest in the occult - reading birth charts and studying astrology. Amongst this, he made around 6,338 prophecies, all written down in his books. 

Nostradamus claimed to base his published predictions on judicial astrology—the astrological ‘judgement’, or assessment, of the 'quality’ (and thus potential) of events such as births, weddings, coronations etc. Nostradamus’ life can be read in detail here.

Some prophecies that came true: 

The Great Fire of London (2nd - 5th Sept. 1666) -  “The blood of the just will be demanded of London, Burnt by the fire in the year 66″ 

The French Revolution (789-1799) - “From the enslaved people, songs, chants and demands, The princes and lords are held captive in prisons: In the future by such headless idiots, These will be taken as divine utterances.”

Adolph Hitler (1933 - 1945) - “From the depths of the West of Europe, A young child will be born of poor people, He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop; His fame will increase towards the realm of the East.”

Kennedy Brothers’ Assassinations & Riots (1963 - 1968) -  “The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt, An evil deed foretold by the bearer of a petition. Another falls at night time. Conflict at Reins, London and a pestilence in Tuscany.”

9/11 - “Volcanic fire from the center of the earth will cause trembling around the new city: Two great rocks will make war for a long time. Then Arethusa will redden a new river.”

Future predictions made by Nostradamus: (x)

The resurrection of the dead is foretold. According to Nostradamus, “the buried dead shall come out of their graves”. Such the chilling prediction inspires the great dread to the living since we’re all scared of the dead (also called as zombies). Since there will be no more room in hell, the dead is predicted to resurrect.

Humans will live over 200 years old. With the remarkable advances in medicine, the average life-span of humans is increased to 200 years. Along with that, the 80-year-old guy may look just like the 50-year-old gentleman. 

Humans will learn to communicate with animals. The big advances in the science of telepathy and animal communication skills will enable humans to talk to the pets and farm animals as well. Nostradamus wrote that “The hog will become brother to man”. (finally!) (x)

this day in horrible history 

↳ 02 September 1666 AD - The Great Fire of London - A fire breaks out at the house of King Charles II’s baker on Pudding Lane.

Its coming to an end, finally. Its Wednesday and my mother is heartbroken about our belongings. We spent the whole night helping fight the fire. What else is there to do with all of our stuff gone?

All of my stuff. Gone.

Noo!!! The Cathedral is catching fire!! Its in the background!!!!

Apparently Baynard's Castle is burning??? The castle has stone walls!!!!

Its monday evening now. It took us almost all day to get our stuff to the cathedral. There was already so many people’s things there too. Mom says we should go help fight the fire now that our things are safe. We’re going to get some sleep first, i hope.

People are saying the foreigners are lighting more fires.

This is a picture of the cathedral. George admires whoever drew this because its so accurate. Mother says our belongings will be safe in there.

The streets are full of people trying to escape and move their stuff away too.

We have to move, the fire is getting too close to this house. My mother says we're going to take our stuff to the church. She says that its still far enough from the fire that it might not burn. And besides, its made of stone so it shouldn't burn anyways.

It's 3am and i just realized theres no way our house is still standing... I hope George is ok. I haven't heard from him since the fire and chaos started.