15 Brutal Moments From History People Once Accepted Too Easily

The past could be unimaginably harsh, and people often had no choice but to keep going through things that would shock most of us now. That is what gives a title like this its weight.

Chernobyl disaster

A nuclear reactor exploded in Ukraine in 1986 releasing radiation and took the lives of around 4,000 – 90,000 people, including long term.

Mongol conquests

The expansion of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan killed around 30 million people.

Great Chinese Famine

A deathly famine caused during Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward took between 15 to 45 million lives.

Great Famine of Ireland

The infection of potato crops led to around 1 million deaths by starvation and diseases.

The Holodomor

A man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine that killed millions of Ukrainians.

Black Plague

A bubonic plague during the 14th century that ended up killing almost 50% of Europe’s population.

Spanish flu pandemic

An influenza outbreak that infected a third of the world’s population, killing around 50 million of them.

Smallpox in the Americas

An infectious disease that devastated indigenous people, killing 50% to 90% of its population across centuries.

World War II

Most of the world’s nations were involved, leaving around 80 million deaths worldwide.

Plague of Justinian

An early plague that quickly spread across the Mediterranean killing around 25 million people.

Rwandan genocide

In 1994, in just 100 days around 800,000 people were murdered by extremists.

Second Sino-Japanese War

A deathly conflict between China and Japan that took around 20 million lives.

Taiping Rebellion

A civil war in China that caused displacement and famine, apparently killing around 10% of China’s population.

Tangshan earthquake

The deadliest earthquake in recorded history that killed at least 300,000 people

World War I

The war left an estimated 22 million victims, both military and civilian.