Sicily and Calabria. Great earthquake resulting in the destruction of Messina, Reggio, and many smaller towns and villages, including upward of 200,000 lives.
“God often bestows temporal prosperities on the wicked, to show how lightly he esteems what the world is so dazzled with; but crosses he reserves for his own, whom he would humble under his Almighty hand, and make them the objects of his delight.”
–Fenelon