 thumb|collecting the dead for burial during the great plague the great plague (1665â66) was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in the kingdom of england (part of modern-day united kingdom). it happened within the centuries-long time period of the second pandemic, an extended period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics which began in europe in 1347, the first year of the "black death", an outbreak which included other forms such as pneumonic plague, and lasted until 1750. the great plague killed an estimated 100,000 people, about 15% of london's population. plague is caused by the yersinia pestis bacterium, which is usually transmitted through the bite of an infected rat flea. the 1664â66 epidemic was on a far smaller scale than the earlier "black death" pandemic; it was remembered afterwards as the "great" plague mainly because it was the last widespread outbreak of bubonic plague in england during the 400-year timespan of the second pandemic. ==background== ===london in 1665=== thumb|left|map of london by wenceslas hollar, c.1665 the plague had been a recurring problem in 17th century london. there had been 30,000 deaths due to the plague in 1603, 35,000 in 1625, and 10,000 in 1636, as well as smaller numbers in other years.  during the winter of 1664, a bright comet was to be seen in the sky{{cite book |last=pepys |first=samuel |chapter=march 1st |chapterurl=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/diary_of_samuel_pepys/1665/march#march_1st |title=diary of samuel pepy
1665_in_England 1666_in_England 17th-century_health_disasters 17th_century_in_London Death_in_London Disasters_in_London Epidemics Health_disasters_in_the_United_Kingdom Health_in_London Second_plague_pandemic Social_history_of_London Stuart_England