Volcanic eruptions, years of perpetual winter, and major conflicts driven by famines have marked the worst year to be alive. If you ever thought that 2019 was the worst year to live due to the arrival of COVID-19, it turns out that science has debunked that notion, and we’ll explain why.
While humanity has faced terrible wars, the spread of dangerous diseases, and climate change, it turns out that in a specific year, deadly events occurred that made living in it fatal. We’ll tell you what they were.
Scientists Choose the Worst Year to Be Alive in All of History
Life has often been “nasty, brutish, and short” for humanity, often battling to survive and navigate through a world plagued by problems.
2020: Covid-19
2020 was bad; around 14.9 million died from COVID-19 between January 2020 and December 2021 according to the WHO. Add to that depression from lockdowns, fear, millions of lost jobs, impoverished families, and bankrupt businesses.
1349: The Black Death
But history shows there were worse times. In 1349, the Black Death killed 50% of the European population. Cities like Paris and Florence were left empty. It is believed to have originated from the siege of the Genoese port city of Caffa (Crimea) by the army of the Golden Horde in 1343.
The Mongol army allegedly threw the bodies of Mongol warriors who had died from the plague over the walls of the besieged city, spreading the disease. The Black Death would reach Europe from Crimea as a result of this biological warfare during the siege.
1520: The Arrival of Smallpox
Another horrible year was 1520. When Europeans arrived, indigenous peoples of the Americas were already doomed. They had never before experienced smallpox, measles, or the flu. Smallpox reached the continent in 1520 on a Spanish ship from Cuba, carried by an infected African slave.
As soon as it landed in Mexico, the infection began its deadly journey across the continent. Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, was devastated. Before Pizarro’s arrival, smallpox had already ravaged the Inca Empire, killing Emperor Huayna Capac and sparking a civil war.
1918: The Influenza
In our century, in 1918, the influenza pandemic caused the deaths of between 50 and 100 million people. And that was much more than the recently ended First World War, which resulted in about 20 million deaths.
536: Anno Domini
But for some researchers, the title of “Worst Year in History” has another winner. One that most people are not aware of is 536 AD. Climate disturbances, famines, wars, the decline of entire civilizations, and a mysterious and deadly pandemic.
The year began with a dense and inexplicable fog that spread worldwide. Plunging Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia into darkness 24 hours a day, for almost 2 years. As a result, global temperatures plummeted, resulting in the coldest decade in over 2,000 years. Famine was rampant, and crops were lost across Europe, Africa, and Asia.
But 536 AD would only be the prelude to greater misery. This period of extreme cold and famine caused economic disaster in Europe, and in 541 AD, an outbreak of bubonic plague further led to the deaths of nearly 100 million people and nearly 50% of the Byzantine Empire.
These events were considered signs of the Apocalypse: unprecedented calamities in Europe, Africa, and Asia. And it even reached America. Historians believe that an intense El Niño episode initiated the decline of the Moche pre-Inca culture, coinciding with the year 536.
This story was written in Spanish by Perla Vallejo in Ecoosfera.
