The King\u2019s Men staged the first known performance of William Shakespeare\u2019s The Tempest<\/em> before James VI and I at Whitehall Palace.<\/span><\/p>\n Cataclysm claims up to 100,000 lives<\/em><\/p>\n There \u201cnever was a finer morning seen than the 1st of November,\u201d the Reverend Charles Davy, who was staying in Lisbon, wrote afterwards. \u201cThe sun shone out in its full lustre; the whole face of the sky was perfectly serene and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after nine that morning, Davy was writing a letter when he felt the table \u201ctremble with a gentle motion\u201d. Then the house began to shake, which he put down to the carriages rattling down to the palace nearby. Then came a loud noise, like the \u201chollow distant rumbling of thunder\u201d. And then Davy ran.<\/p>\n The spectacle that greeted Charles Davy might have been a scene from the end of the world. Hundreds of people were milling in the streets, screaming and shouting. Buildings were crashing to the ground; on the top of St Catherine\u2019s Hill, Davy watched in horror as the parish church crumbled into dust. At the seafront, he saw a gigantic wave sweeping towards the city, carrying upturned boats with it. \u201cIt was at the time of which I am now speaking,\u201d Davy wrote, \u201cthat the fine new quay, built entirely of rough marble, at an immense expense, was entirely swallowed up, with all the people on it.\u201d<\/p>\n The earthquake that hit Lisbon in 1755 was one of the deadliest in history. The Portuguese capital was almost completely destroyed, and some estimates put the death toll at 100,000 people. Later, the city was rebuilt in elegant, classical style by Portugal\u2019s chief minister, the Marquis de Pombal.<\/p>\n But across Europe, the disaster left a scar on the imagination of a generation. In years to come, theologians, philosophers and political theorists, from Rousseau to Kant, grappled with the existential implications of such a terrible natural catastrophe. The French writer Voltaire was one of many thinkers to be shaken by the news. If God was all- powerful and all-loving, he wondered, how could he have let it happen? | Written by Dominic Sandbrook\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n WH Smith and Son open their first railway bookstall at London and North Western Railway\u2019s Euston Station. They will sign similar deals with other railway companies, using the railway network to become the country\u2019s leading newspaper distributor.<\/p>\n The artist LS Lowry is born in Stretford, Manchester.<\/p>\n US President Harry S Truman survived an assassination attempt by two Puerto Rican nationalists who attempted to shoot their way into Blair House \u2013 the president\u2019s home while the White House was being refurbished.<\/p>\n Browse more\u00a0On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n1 November 1755:\u00a0Lisbon is levelled by a deadly earthquake<\/h3>\n
1 November 1848<\/h3>\n
1 November 1887<\/h3>\n
1 November 1950<\/h3>\n
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