on 29 june 1613, the globe theatre went up in flames during a performance of "henry viii". a theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. according to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man who put out his burning breeches with a bottle of ale. the event pinpoints the date of a shakespeare play with rare precision. sir henry wotton recorded that the play "was set forth with many extraordinary circumstances of pomp and ceremony". the theatre was rebuilt but, like all the other theatres in london, the globe was closed down by the puritans in 1642.