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It's 6 p.m. on the evening of October 16, 1834,

and the Palace of Westminster,

home to the British Parliament in London.

The wife of one of the building's doorkeepers strides across the lobby.

After a long day running errands, she's eager to get back to her quarters and fix dinner.

But as she hastens through the palace's hallowed halls and eerie light catches her eye,

a strange flickering glow seeping through the crack beneath the door to the House of Lords.

She cautiously walks over to investigate,

and with a creek pushes open the heavy door.

She gasps as she takes in the horrifying scene before her.

Flames hungrily devour the walls and curtains.

Terror seizes the woman and she screams out, the House of Lords is on fire.

Hannah concedes as the woman's harrowing cry echoes through the halls.

The woman rushes out of the building alongside the other frantic staff,

and from a safe distance she watches as billowing plumes of smoke dark in the sky.

And then a giant ball of fire burst through the building's roof.

Golfing the entire palace in flames.

The Great Fire of 1834, as this incident will come to be known,

captivates the city of London.

...