A Turning Point in History

Few people know anything about the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, even though it marked a turning point for Western philosophy, religion and science.  The quake, estimated to have been between 8.0 and 9.0 on the Richter scale, devastated the city of Lisbon, destroying 85% of its buildings outright.  To escape the debris falling in aftershocks, many of the survivors congregated at the docks only to be swept away by a series of tsunamis.  The final insult, a fire, then consumed the remainder of the city.<