When Cromwell died in 1658 his Commonwealth quickly unravelled. Parliament invited the exiled son of Charles I to return as king; he was crowned Charles II in 1660. The Restoration brought back the theatres, the Anglican Church and a more relaxed court culture, but also two great disasters: the Great Plague of London in 1665 (which killed perhaps 100,000 people) and the Great Fire of London in 1666, which destroyed much of the medieval city.
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The fire prompted Sir Christopher Wren's rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral and over fifty other London churches. Charles II also chartered the Royal Society in 1660, the world's oldest national scientific institution; Samuel Pepys kept the famous diary that records the period in vivid detail.
You may be asked which year the monarchy was restored (1660), what disaster struck London in 1666 (the Great Fire), or which institution was chartered for science (the Royal Society).
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