people love to complain about how bad things are, but let’s be clear they’ve been way worse
Via HistoryinMemes
Worst Year Ever:
“2020 was a terrible year, but it’s still far from being the worst in recorded human history. Here are a few bad ones: 1349 was the peak of the Black Death, which killed an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Europe, Eurasia, and North Africa. It is considered the deadliest pandemic in human history. 1520 was when smallpox spread across the Americas, killing an estimated 90% of the Indigenous population. It is estimated that 25 to 55 million people perished. 1918 was when the influenza pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people across the globe. As many as 500 million people were infected. These were all terrible years, but many historians believe that the absolute worst was 536 AD. According to medieval historian, Michael McCormick, “It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year.” So what exactly happened in 536? Well for starters, a volcano erupted in Iceland, which dimmed the sun for 18 months, causing temperatures to decrease by 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius. This led to the coldest decade (536 to 545) in 2,000 years, leading to crop failures and mass starvations in Europe, Mesopotamia, and China. In 540 there was another volcanic eruption, this time in Ilopango, El Salvador, which killed tens of thousands of people and decreased global temperatures once again. In 541, the Plague of Justinian began to spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin and would kill 35 to 55% of the population. The plague would greatly weaken the Byzantine Empire after devastating its capital, Constantinople. The natural disasters, crop failures, and the plague would go on to decimate Europe’s economy, which would not recover until 640, more than a century later. Ice core records show that in 640, there was a spike in atmospheric lead pollution which was the result of an increase in silver mining. Silver is found in lead-rich galena ores. During this time, periods of prosperity almost always coincided with increases in lead emissions. Keep in mind that this is just from recorded history. Imagine all the crazy stuff that happened in prehistory, including population bottlenecks, which reduced the human population to just tens of thousands of people. We could have easily gone extinct on a number of occasions.”
Via @HistoryInPics
Being Born in 1900:
“For a quick moment, imagine you were born in 1900. When you are 14, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday with 22 million people killed. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until you are 20. Fifty million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million. When you’re 29, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, global GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet. When you’re 41, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war and the Holocaust kills six million. At 52, the Korean War starts and five million perish. At 64 the Vietnam War begins, and it doesn’t end for many years. Four million people die in that conflict. Approaching your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could well have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening. As you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? A child in 1985 didn’t think their 85 year old grandparent understood how hard school was. Yet those grandparents survived through everything listed above. Perspective is an amazing thing. With so much happening right now and as 2023 ends, let’s try to keep things in perspective, knowing that we will get through all of this. In the history of the world, there has never been a storm that lasted forever. This too shall pass.”
Via Max Roser HT Bob Elliott
