Lisbon Earthquake
November 1, 1755
On All Saints' morning, with the churches full and the candles lit, the ground heaved. Fires broke out; a tsunami followed. Tens of thousands died in minutes. Voltaire read the news and lost his faith in benevolent Providence; Candide is unthinkable without the rubble of Lisbon. The Marquis de Pombal, the prime minister who rebuilt the city on a rational grid, became an Enlightenment hero in the process.
In context
Also in 1755 (4 other events on record)
- Qing Forces Destroy the Dzungar Khanate · Central Asia · War
- Johnson's Dictionary Published · Europe · Culture
- Braddock's Defeat on the Monongahela · North America · War
- Expulsion of the Acadians · North America · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Disaster
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.