25 Horrible Events Taken Place Throughout History

Posted by , Updated on March 23, 2024

This may seem somewhat prone to individual interpretation, and indeed it is. However, we had to make these decisions somehow. So, let’s clear this up from the start: just because something does not feature on this list doesn’t mean we don’t consider it awful. And its absence from this list does not imply it was less dreadful than what we did include. Some might ask, “Then why not include the most terrible event on the list?” An honest reply would be that our research did not lead us there. Unquestionably, due to human limitations and contexts, some of you might be aware of horrific instances that truly should be listed. It is in recognizing all such tragedies, those listed here and those not, that this list was compiled. Therefore, rather than considering this some form of morbid contest, remember that any loss of life or loved ones is a profoundly sad incident.

Also worth noting is that it is really hard to rank tragedies, so we didn’t. These are in no particular order. They are just all bad and that is why they made the list. These are the 25 Horrible Events Taken Place Throughout History.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omubp3rL6LM

Featured Image: pixabay

25

Teiping Rebellion (mid 1800's)

Teiping Rebellion (mid 1800s)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

This civil war took place in China and led to the deaths of tens of millions of people. What made it worse was that it was a “total war.” This means that there were no civilians. Everybody was directly involved in the fight.

24

Pol Pot's Regime

Pol Pot's RegimeImage: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Under Pol Pot’s rule, nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population was wiped out.

23

1971 Bangladesh genocide

1971 Bangladesh genocideImage: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

During Bangladesh’s push for independence, the Pakistani military systematically killed up to 3 million people.

22

African World War

African World WarImage: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

While it is not taught much outside of Africa, the Second Congo War was one of the most destructive armed conflicts in history.

21

Bhopal disaster (1984)

Bhopal disaster (1984)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Considered the worst industrial disaster in history, over half a million people around the city of Bhopal in India were exposed to methyl isocyanate and various other chemicals during a leak in a plant. The exact death toll is unknown as many villages have no record keeping, but its effects are still being felt today.

20

Irish Potato Famine

Irish Potato FamineImage: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

After more than 150 years, Ireland’s population still hasn’t recovered.

19

Development of agriculture (~10,000 years ago)

Development of agriculture (~10,000 years ago)Image: pexels, Source: wikipedia

While this one is controversial, there are some archeologists who view agriculture as humanity’s biggest mistake. Why? It lead to a population explosion which also led to the spread of disease, war, and inequality.

18

Nanking Massacre (1937)

Nanking Massacre (1937)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Japanese soldiers allegedly had competitions to see how quickly they could slaughter one hundred Chinese people just using their swords. There were also accounts of families being forced to rape each other.

17

Agent Orange Program (1970's)

Agent Orange Program (1970s)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

When the US dropped agent orange in the jungles of Vietnam, it was intended to destroy the foliage, which it did. Unfortunately the environment still hasn’t recovered, and many people are still born with birth defects to this day.

16

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1914)

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1914)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Granted, if it weren’t for this, then it would have been something else, but as it stands, this is what directly triggered WWI and indirectly caused WWII.

15

The Great Leap Forward

The Great Leap ForwardImage: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Instituted by the Chinese Communist Party to modernize China, it instead lead to famine and millions of deaths.

14

Burning of the Library of Alexandria

Burning of the Library of AlexandriaSource: wikipedia

Although we aren’t sure who burned it and when, there was a lot of knowledge lost in those fires. Historians don’t believe that this event set society back technologically. It was more the cultural and historical understanding that was lost.

13

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The Trans-Atlantic Slave TradeImage: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Few things have had such a significant effect upon today’s society as the slave trade.

12

The Rwandan Genocide (1994)

The Rwandan Genocide (1994)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

More than a million people were murdered over the course of a few months. And what’s even worse is it was by their own neighbors brandishing machetes. Nearly 1/3 of the country was wiped out.

11

Conquests of Genghis Khan (~1200)

Conquests of Genghis Khan (~1200)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Although he is still seen as a hero in some places (Mongolia),  his conquests were responsible for killing up to 40 million people (10 percent of the world population).

10

Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) extinction (66 million years ago)

Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) extinction (66 million years ago)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

More accurately known as the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, this is the famous potential asteroid strike that killed off most dinosaur life that weighed over 10kg.

Note: Some smaller dinosaurs survived, today they are known as Aves, or birds.

9

The Great Dying (252 million years ago)

The Great Dying (252 million years ago)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Although most of us are familiar with the K-T Extinction that we just mentioned, the P-TR (Permian-Triassic) Extinction was significantly worse. It was at the start of the Mesozoic era (The Age of Reptiles/Dinosaurs) and close to 96% of marine species as well as 70% of terrestrial vertebrates died out. It is also the only known mass extinction of insects. So yes, the age of dinosaurs both started and ended with mass extinctions.

8

Unit 731 (1937-1945)

Unit 731 (1937-1945)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

This was a “research facility” that was established in China during WWII by the Japanese. We won’t go into the gory details here, but if you think Nazi Germany was bad, you haven’t read about this place.

7

American Indian Genocide

American Indian GenocideImage: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Although there has been significant backlash to teaching this in schools, scholars rank the decimation of the native population in both North and South America at the hands of the English, Spanish, Portuguese, and later the Americans, as one of the longest lasting and most tragic genocides in history.

6

Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)

Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

These were part of a catastrophic ending to a catastrophic war.

5

The Black Death (mid 1300's)

The Black Death (mid 1300s)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

In a matter of 5 to 6 years, up to 70% of Europe’s population was wiped out. It took almost 3 centuries for the population to return to pre-plague levels.

4

Armenian Genocide (~1915)

Armenian Genocide (~1915)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

One of the first modern genocides, the Armenian Massacre was actually the event that led Raphael Lemkin to coin the term “genocide.” More than a million Armenians and other ethnic Christian groups were systemically murdered by the Ottoman Empire around the time of WWI.

3

Toba Eruption (~70,000 BC)

Toba Eruption (~70,000 BC)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

The Toba volcanic eruption in Indonesia has been hypothesized to have caused a human population bottleneck by wiping out a vast portion of humanity.

Note: this position is controversial. There was a population bottleneck (evident from genetic testing) but whether or not the Toba eruption was responsible is up in the air.

2

The Great Terror (1936-1938)

The Great Terror (1936-1938)Image: wikipedia, Source: wikipedia

Also known as Stalin’s Great Purge, what made this period so bad was that almost everybody was a target – both enemies of the state and friends of the state. It almost seemed that people were chosen at random for execution. Death tolls are estimated into the millions.

1

Holocaust (1941-1945)

Holocaust (1941-1945)Image: pixabay, Source: wikipedia

Although lots of events on this list led to more total carnage, the systematic efficiency with which this genocide was carried out is quite terrifying.