The Black Plague, also known as the Bubonic Plague, occurred during the 14th century and lasted from 1346 to 1353. It killed 1/3 of Europe's population, 25 million people. Although they didn't have advanced medicine, they still implemented the idea of quarantine. The first city to have it implemented was Ragusa, which is modern-day Dubrovnik in Croatia.
A miniature from a 14th century Belgium manuscript showing people burying the dead from the Black Death in Tournai, Belgium.
Major Places Affected By The Black Plague
This is what doctors would wear when dealing with patients that had the disease.
Scientists believed that Egyptians may have had Smallpox due to rashes found on the mummies, which suggests it's been around for almost 3000 years. However, the first cases were in the 4th century in China. Symptoms of Smallpox consisted of muscle pains, rashes on the skin, fever, vomiting, and headaches.
Smallpox: When Was It Eliminated In Each Country? - Our World In Data
Image Via Courtesy of the American Public Health Association.
"In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the smallpox taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation." - Benjamin Franklin
Image: Wellcome Library, London
The Third Plague started in 1855 and ended in 1945. It originated in the Yunnan region of southwest China. Some symptoms are fever, headache, chills, and painful lymph nodes.
Map of reported plague cases in Europe (1899–1947) from the Public Health Reports and electronic supplementary material, including the number of outbreaks in each location (see also the electronic supplementary material
Click this link to see a list of all the pandemics that have been recorded and have impacted history. -->
WWI or the Great War, was a worldwide battle that lasted from 1914 to 1918. Rising nationalism among European nations, territorial disputes, and a complicated web of alliances were the main causes. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist group seeking to unite territories containing ethnic peoples under Serbia's control, in 1914 led to a chain reaction that eventually sparked the war.
Propaganda used to recruit citizens to help out in the war. I Want You for U.S. Army, 1917, James Montgomery Flagg The Huntington Library, Art Galleries, and Botanical Gardens
How can citizens help service their country now that there is a war? Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
"The struggle to get out alive had been so great that many of the walking wounded died from exhaustion." - Colonel Corrigal