In April 1944, seven bombs dropped by the British Royal Air Force hit the building, narrowly missing a key pillar of the lantern tower, and damaging much of the south aisle and destroying two windows. In June 1944, a few days before D-Day, bombs dropped by the U.S. Army Air Force set fire to the Saint-Romain tower. The bells melted, leaving molten remains on the floor. Following World War II, a major restoration effort began to repair war damage by the Service of Historic Monuments, concluding in 1956. Then a new campaign began to consolidate the structure and to restore the statuary of the west front, including putting back four statues that had been moved elsewhere. In 2016, the project was finished and the scaffolding which had covered much of the cathedral for a half-century was finally removed. Prior to the re-opening of the Cathedral in 1956, the choir, damaged by the bombing during the war, was given a substantial renewal. This included a new high altar topped by an 18th-century Rococo statue of Christ made of gilded made by Clodion, which had previously been on the altar screen, as well as new choir screens, a new episcopal throne, and a new communion table and pulpit made of cast iron and gilded copper. Beginning in 1985, excavations were carried out beneath the church and its surroundings, which uncovered vestiges of the earlier Paleochristian buildings and foundations of the Carolingian cathedral. In 1999, during Cyclone Lothar, a copper-clad wooden turret, which weighed 26 tons, broke free from the tower and fell partly into the church, damaging the choir. Timeline c. 260 - Saint Mellonius recorded as first bishop of Rouen c. 396 - Bishop and Saint Victricius builds first basilica 769 - Charlemagne attends the Cathedral for Easter 1063 - Romanesque cathedral consecrated 1145 - Reconstruction in Gothic style of Saint Roman tower begins 1200 - On Easter Day, a fire causes major damage to interior of cathedral 1207 - Main altar in place 1214 - Work underway on axial chapel c. 1247 - Gothic cathedral complete c. 1270 - chapels of nave constructed 1280 - Portals of transept begun 1302 - Work begins on Chapel of the Virgin 1370 - Rose window on west facade begun 1478 - Completion of upper level of the Tour Saint-Romain 1479 - Library of the Chapter completed 1484 - Porch of Libraries completed 1485-1506