On 2 September 2016, it will be exactly 350 years since the catastrophic Great Fire of London started in Thomas Farynor's bakery in Pudding Lane. The fire raged for four days, destroying 13,200 homes and leaving 65,000 people homeless. The speed at which London recovered, and the way it did so, laid the foundations for the global city we know today.

They may have to travel across an ocean to get here, but for Americans in London, home is never that far away. Britain and the United States have a long shared history, and there are many sites in London associated with America. They reflect the close political, cultural and military ties between the two countries. The term "special relationship," often used to refer to the Anglo-American friendship, was first coined by Britain's wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, whose mother was American.