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It's after dark on September 1st, 1666. On Pudding Lane, a street in the heart of London,

a baker named Thomas Fariner packs up for the night.

Thomas opens the doors of his bread oven and rakes through the smoldering coals inside.

Then he takes a cloth and plunges it into a bucket of water.

Then he reaches inside the oven and quickly damps down the hot coals.

And once he's done, he closes the oven door and leaves the bankhouse.

Yawning, Thomas heads upstairs to his living

quarters above the bakery. His son, daughter, and maidservant are already in

bed, exhausted after a long day's work.

Taking care not to wake his sleeping family, Thomas tiptoes across the room

and climbs into bed, quickly falling into a deep slumber.

By the early hours of the morning, into a deep slumber.

By the early hours of the morning, Thomas is snoring contentedly, lost in pleasant dreams.

Gradually, however, a powerful, acrid smell seeps into his nostrils.

Thomas's eyes snap open to see the room is filled with smoke.

Thomas throws off the covers and sprints to the stairs his heart pounding.

But when he reaches the top he's confronted by a wave of heat and smoke.

By now Thomas's two children have woken up.

...