← Back to the front page

20th Century’s Deadliest Disasters

Khalid Elhassan October 26, 2020 32 min

1976 Tangshan earthquake - Tangshan — A bridge destroyed by the Tangshan Earthquake. China Underground

3. Before the Black Death, There Was Justinian’s Plague

The Black Death was history’s deadliest plague. Tragic and lethal as it was, Justinian’s Plague, 541 – 542 AD, gives it a run for its money in deadliness and long-lasting consequences. It was named after the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, during whose reign it occurred – and who came down with it, but survived. Justinian’s Plague is history’s first known recorded pandemic, because it swept across three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Like the Black Death, Justinian’s Plague was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium. Also like the Black Death, Justinian’s Plague struck with a devastating initial outbreak, followed by several recurrences in succeeding years. By the time the last recurrence ended, Justinian’s Plague had killed an estimated 25 million to 100 million people.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.