Great Fire of 1676 occurs.

The fire destroys the meeting house and parsonage of the Second Church in Boston (then located on the site where the Paul Revere House is later built) and 45 houses in the North Square area, including that of Increase Mather. Fortunately, most of Mather’s 1,000-volume library is spared and a sudden rainstorm prevents further damage. Cotton Mather suggests the fire is the result of Divine punishment, and asks, “Has not God’s Holy Day been profaned in New England?”