24 August AD 79
Eruption of Vesuvius

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A violent eruption of the volcano Vesuvius has completely destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum on the Bay of Naples. The ash and boiling mud that swamps the cities will preserve them intact until their rediscovery and excavation at the end of the 18th century. Entire streets, houses, stores, workshops, shops, even brothels are captured just as they are when the volcano erupts. The casts of the bodies of people who can't escape in time – complete with the facial expressions at their time of death – are preserved in the ash or mud, even though the bodies themselves have vaporised. See Pompeii.

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