Catastrophes & Human Tragedy
Shipwrecks, a failed dam, a pandemic and a nuclear meltdown: disasters where human choices turned risk into catastrophe.
- Disasters
- Tragedy
- Pandemic
- Survival
- Resilience
Some of the stories included
The Black DeathThe Black Death reached Europe in 1347, killing a third to a half of the population and remaking the medieval world.
The Irish FamineThe Great Hunger began in 1845, triggered by a potato blight, but over a million died while Ireland remained a net exporter of food.
Flight MH370: The Plane That VanishedFlight MH370 carried 239 people toward Beijing, then turned back and slipped off military radar at 2:22 AM.
HiroshimaOn August 6, 1945, the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, instantly killing tens of thousands and changing warfare forever.
The Troubles in Northern IrelandThe 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland, from the 1968 civil rights marches to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
The Transatlantic Slave TradeThe history of the transatlantic slave trade, which carried about 12.5 million Africans to the Americas, from Spain's 1518 licence to Britain's 1807 ban and Brazil's abolition of slavery in 1888.
The Sinking of the LusitaniaIn May 1915, a German U-boat sank the passenger liner Lusitania in 18 minutes, killing 1,198 people and pushing the United States closer to war.
The Great Plague of EyamIn 1666 the village of Eyam sealed itself off, losing roughly 260 people so the plague would not reach Sheffield.
The Armenian GenocideThe Ottoman government's systematic killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians during WWI, starting in early 1915.
The Donner PartyThe harrowing story of American pioneers trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada after taking a supposed shortcut to California.
The Space Shuttle Challenger DisasterThe story of the Challenger's final flight on January 28, 1986, and the investigation that revealed its fatal O-ring flaw.
The Holodomor: Terror-Famine in UkraineStalin's 1930s policies caused a famine that killed 3.9 million people in Ukraine while the USSR exported their grain.
The Trail of TearsThe forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from their ancestral lands after the 1830 Indian Removal Act.
The Spanish Flu: History's Deadliest PandemicThe story of the H1N1 virus that killed up to 100 million people, more than the World War it coincided with.
The Johnstown FloodIn 1889, a private club's poorly maintained dam unleashed a 60-foot wall of water, killing 2,209 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
The Matterhorn TragedyOn July 14, 1865 Edward Whymper won the Matterhorn race, then a snapped rope sent four of his six companions to their deaths.
The Rwandan GenocideIn 1994, an estimated 800,000 people were murdered in 100 days while the international community failed to intervene.
The Goiânia Glowing PowderIn 1987 scavengers in Goiânia opened a glowing cesium capsule, starting a disaster that went undetected for 16 days.
The TitanicThe tragic tale of the Titanic, a ship designed to survive four flooded compartments, but which met its end after an iceberg breached five.
The Chernobyl Nuclear DisasterThe 1986 Chernobyl disaster began during a flawed safety test on a volatile reactor, releasing a plume of radioactive isotopes into the air.
To view the rest of the story pack, download the Chunks Microlearning app and start learning
Or get it straight away:
Download on iOS
Download on Android