The Great Fire of Amsterdam 1666: History Repeats as Modern Day Data Blaze Engulfs City's Digital Archives
Just as the Great Fire of London in 1666 reshaped a city from ashes, a mysterious server meltdown at Amsterdam's oldest library this week—nicknamed the "1666 Amsterdam Inferno"—has destroyed centuries of rare digitized maps and manuscripts, with historians drawing chilling parallels to the forgotten Amsterdam Town Hall fire of 1652 that erased a golden age legacy.