feb 15, 1684 - The Great Frost in Britain, during which the River Thames was frozen in London and the sea as far as 2 miles (3.2 km) out from land and which started the previous December, ends as the Thames begins to thaw. William Maitland later writes that the Frost, which started in December 1683, "congealed the river Thames to that degree that another city, as it were, was erected thereon; where by the great number of streets and shops, with their rich furniture, it represented a great fair, with a variety of carriages