27 Astonishing Things You Didn't Know About London

22. The First Globe Theatre Was Destroyed By A Cannon

Given that it's amongst the most famous theatres in the world, the original Globe had a surprisingly short lifespan. It opened in 1599, built by a company of actors that, as everyone knows, included the most famous playwright of all time, William Shakespeare. For 14 years, the Globe provided Shakespeare with a venue for many of his most famous plays. But then it burnt to the ground in 1613. The cause? Its thatch was accidentally set on fire by a cannon during a performance of Henry VIII. A second, bigger Globe theatre was built in 1614, but even this grander version lasted only three decades, being demolished in 1644 when plays were banned by the killjoy Puritan parliament. Due to the efforts of Sam Wanamaker, the first Globe theatre was reconstructed and opened to the public in 1997. The rebuilt "best guess" at what the Globe looked like can be found on the banks of the Thames in Southwark, only about 750 feet from the site of the original theatre. Hopefully, modern performances of Henry VIII are more careful with the cannons.