The worst epidemics and pandemics in history

PREHISTORIC EPIDEMIC- CIRCA

3000 B.C- About 5000 years ago, the epidemic wiped out a prehistoric village in China.







PLAGUE OF ATHENS

430 B.C - It affected Athens for 5 years. It is said that people in good health were all of a sudden attacked by heat in head and redness and inflammation in the eyes.

Death Toll- 100,000 people.

ANTONINE PLAGUE

165 AD- The Antonine Plague was an ancient pandemic that affected Asia, Egpyt, Italy, Greece, its true cause is still unknown. This disease first affected Rome soldiers and then further spread, killing over 5 million people.




PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN

CAUSE- Bubonic plague

541 to 542- It is estimated that it killed half of the population of Europe. The city is affected most was Constantinople was at its height it was killing 5000 people per day, resulting in the death of 40% of the city population.

THE BLACK DEATH 

1346 to 1353 - It was originated in Asia, but it affected Europe, Africa, and Asia with an estimated death toll between 75 to 200 million people, it was spread by rats.

COCOLIZTLI EPIDEMIC

1545 to 1548 - The infection that causes the cocoliztli epidemic was a form of viral hemorrhagic fever that killed 15 million inhabitants of Mexico and Central America.

AMERICAN PLAGUES

16th Century - The American PLagues are clusters of Euroasian diseases brought to America by European explorers.

AMERICAN POLIO EPIDEMIC

1916- A Polio Epidemic that started in New York City caused 27,000 cases and 6000 deaths in the United States. The disease mainly affected children and leaves survivors with permanent disabilities.

SPANISH FLU 

Death Toll - 500 million 

1918 to 1920 - It did not start in Spain but people falsely believed that illness was specific to Spain and the name Spanish Flu stuck.

Historic Events on May 24

THE TOLERATION ACT

1689- The Toleration Act was passed by the British Parliament, granting freedom of worship to Nonconformists, allowing them their own places of worship and their own teachers and preachers.

QUEEN VICTORIA

1819- Queen Victoria, queen of the United Kingdom was born on this day

OPENING OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

1883- Brooklyn Bridge - from the east river from Brooklyn to Manhattan Island in New York City- opened on this day in 1883, designed by civil engineer John Augustus Roebling.

THOMAS EDISON

1915- Thomas Edison invented telescribe to record telephone conversations.

AMY JOHNSON

1930- Amy Johnson becomes the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.

ASTRONOMER PERCIVAL LOWELL

1984- Lowell Observatory, Arizona, begins observation of Mars with an eighteen-inch telescope, leads its builder Percival Lowell to conclude that there are canals on Mars.

MARGARET THATCHER

1986- Margaret Thatcher became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to visit Israel.

Historic Events on May 23

CAROLUS LINNAEUS

1707-Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist the first to frame principles for defining genera and species of organisms, was born in Råshult.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Born-January 17,1706

Died-April 17, 1790

1785-Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals.

ITALY DECLARED WAR

1915-Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, entering World War I on the side of allies.

WALT DISNEY

1922-Walt Disney incorporates his Ist film company Laugh-O-Gram Films.

TIBET ANNEXED BY CHINA

1951-China formally annexed Tibet as an autonomous region, giving rise to the Tibetan Independence movement - led by Dalai Lama.

POPE JOHN PAUL II

1982-Pope John Paul II declares “Peerke” Donders a Saint.

CREATION OF SOUTH AMERICAN UNION

2008-South American countries -

ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, GUYANA, PARAGUAY, PERU, SURINAME, URUGUAY, AND VENEZUELA - agreed to form a Union to bolster economic and political ties signed a treaty at a summit in Brazil. Treaty created the Union Of South American Nations.

Historic Events on May 22

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Born-February,1809

Died-April 15,1865

On this day in 1849 Abraham lincoln receives a patent (the only president to do so) for the device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions.

PACT OF STEEL

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini sign “Pact Of Steel” in Berlin, Germany in 1939.

BATTLE OF GRANICUS

Alexander the Great in 0334-05-22defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Granicus. In this battle, Greeks lost 350-400 men and Persians up to 3900-4000.

ASTRONOMER NICOLAUS COPERNICUS

In 2010 Polish Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus remains are reburied in Frombork Cathedral, Poland after a 200-year search for his tomb.

YEMEN UNIFIED

IN 1990 on this day after 150 years separation Marxist south Yemen and Conservative North Yemen are unified as the Republic of Yemen.

EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA

In 1927 an earthquake measuring 8.6 on Richter scale strikes Xining in the eastern part of Qinghai province in China. Around 200,000 deaths were reported in this earthquake.

TSUNAMI

The 1960 tsunami caused by the earthquake strikes Hawaii and Japan causing massive destruction.