This former Roman outpost was established as the seat of British power by William the Conqueror. The city underwent two major catastrophes in rapid succession: a plague in 1665 and a fire in 1666 that wiped out 85% of its buildings. By the age of industrialization, London was not only a thoroughly modern city, but also the seat of a vast colonial empire that served as model for the development patterns of its new settlements. Today, London is a sprawling city, large enough to accommodate strikingly modern architecture along with relics of the past, an evolution of city form that writes its history into the urban landscape.