Historical Tragedies
Devastating events that marked generations · 74
Black Death
1346–1353 pandemic in Eurasia and North Africa
Spanish flu
1918–1920 global influenza pandemic
Titanic
British passenger liner that sank in 1912
Chernobyl disaster
1986 nuclear accident in the Soviet Union
Great Fire of London
1666 conflagration in England
The Holocaust
Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany
1755 Lisbon earthquake
Catastrophic earthquake that primarily affected Lisbon, Portugal
September 11 attacks
2001 terror attacks in the U.S.
Krakatoa
Volcanic caldera in the Sunda Strait, Indonesia
RMS Lusitania
British ocean liner (1907–1915)
Taal Volcano
Volcano in Batangas, Philippines
January 2001 El Salvador earthquake
On 13 January 2001, at 11:33 CTZ (17:33 UTC), a Mw 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Usulután Department, El Salvador, at a depth of 60 km (37 mi). At least 952 people were ki
Cruise ship
Passenger ship used for pleasure voyages
Cabu
French caricaturist (1938–2015)
Turkish Airlines Flight 6491
2017 aviation accident in Kyrgyzstan
2016 Ouagadougou attacks
Islamic terrorist attack in Burkina Faso
Tatiana Issa
Brazilian actress and director
Günther Prien
German U-boat commander during World War II
Edith Frank
Mother of Anne Frank (1900–1945)
Charles Henry Davis
United States Navy admiral (1807–1877)
Vittorio Alfieri
Italian dramatist and poet (1749–1803)
Georges Wolinski
French cartoonist (1934–2015)
Charb
French satirist and journalist (1967–2015)
Crossair Flight 498
2000 aircraft accident in Switzerland
Christian Atsu
Ghanaian footballer (1992–2023)
Hennenman–Kroonstad train crash
2018 rail transit disaster in Free State, South Africa
National Public Security Force
Federal law enforcement agency in Brazil
Pakistan
Country in South Asia
Harold Edgerton
American engineer and inventor (1903-1990)
2025 New Orleans truck attack
Terrorist attack in Louisiana, U.S.
Istanbul nightclub shooting
2017 nightclub shooting in Ortaköy, Istanbul, Turkey
2024 Noto earthquake
Earthquake in Japan
Santika Club fire
2009 fire in Thailand
Rogue wave
Unexpectedly large transient ocean surface wave
Air India Flight 855
1978 aviation accident in the Arabian Sea
Safed
City in northern Israel
Wilhelm Canaris
German admiral (1887–1945)
Plasco Building
Building in Tehran, Iran
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German writer and polymath (1749–1832)
Judith Resnik
American engineer and astronaut (1949–1986)
Michael J. Smith
American astronaut (1945–1986)
2026 Rubaya mines collapses
Mine collapse in the DRC
Brazilian aircraft carrier São Paulo
Aircraft carrier in service from 2000 to 2018
Ellison Onizuka
American astronaut and engineer (1946–1986)
Batepá massacre
1953 killing of native creoles in colonial São Tomé
Battle of São Vicente
Part of the Anglo–Spanish War (1583)
2024 Korochansky Ilyushin Il-76 crash
Russian transport crash in Belgorod Oblast, Russia
NASA
American space and aeronautics agency
Avianca Flight 052
1990 aviation accident in New York
SS Laurentic (1908)
British ocean liner sunk by mines in 1917
Tobe Hooper
American filmmaker (1943–2017)
Toše Proeski
Macedonian singer (1981–2007)
Edward III
King of England from 1327 to 1377
2016 southern Taiwan earthquake
Deadly earthquake centered north of Pingtung City, Taiwan
2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes
Major earthquakes in the Turkey–Syria border region
Birgenair Flight 301
1996 aviation accident in the Atlantic Ocean
Roger Byrne
English footballer (1929–1958)
Eddie Colman
English footballer (1936–1958)
Tommy Taylor
English footballer (1932–1958)
Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1976)
1976 plane crash during takeoff in Irkutsk, Russia
Bad Aibling rail accident
2016 train collision in Bavaria, Germany
Battle of the Atlantic
Attempt by Germany during World War II to cut supply lines to Britain
2023 São Paulo floods and landslides
Natural disaster in Brazil
Daegu subway fire
2003 subway arson in Daegu, South Korea
Apollo 14
Third crewed Moon landing
Imperial Japanese Army
Principal ground force of the Empire of Japan
Space Shuttle Enterprise
Space Shuttle test vehicle, used for glide tests
Second Sino-Japanese War
1937–1945 conflict in East Asia
Desastre de Aberfan
**TITLE:** The Aberfan Disaster
Grande fome de 1845–1849 na Irlanda
**TITLE:** The Great Famine of 1845–1849 in Ireland
Incêndio na boate Kiss
**TITLE:** Fire at the Kiss Nightclub
Desastre de Bopal
**TITLE:** The Bhopal Disaster
Rompimento de barragem em Mariana
**TITLE:** Dam Collapse in Mariana
Sismo e tsunâmi do oceano Índico de 2004
**TITLE:** 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami