DISASTERS OF HISTORY: EPISODE 1
From Earthquakes to Epidemic, crashes to collapses - as long as humans have existed on this Earth, disasters have threatened death and destruction.
BLACK DEATH (Britain: 1348-1350)
The black death is thought to have originated in central Asia from where it traveled along the silk road and around Europe on merchant ships. It was named after the black buboes in the groin, neck and armpits that were the first symptoms. A fever and vomiting blood followed, death arrived within a few days. The black death reached Britain in 1348, first seen around Bristol. People flocked to superstitious methods like flagellation, hoping to appease God/Allah. The real problem was that unhygienic medieval towns were a perfect breeding ground for the disease. The black death is estimated to have killed half of Britain's population up to 60 percent in London. But the hard times were not over. Harvests failed and food prices increased. The disease even returned periodically for the next few centuries ending with the great plague of 1665.
LISBON EARTHQUAKE (Lisbon, Portugal - 1755)
When an Earthquake struck the Portuguese capital on 1st November, 1755, the devastation was almost absolute. The buildings that survived the quake, estimated at magnitude nine on the Richter scale, were then struck by a tsunami and city wide fire. The death toll was undoubtedly high, although such was the destruction that estimates widely vary from 10,000 to 100,000 people. Yet, Lisbon was quickly rebuilt and designed to resist subsequent Earthquakes, models were used to test the strength of building designs, the effect of an Earthquake on them were stimulated by marching troops nearby. It was the birth of modern seismology.
NORTH AMERICAN SMALL POX EPIDEMIC (USA, Canada and Mexico: 1775 - 1782)
Small pox was not a new disease in America in 1775. It had existed as far back as Columbus first voyage to the New World, but it was during the American revolution that the unhygienic conditions in Army camps sparked a small pox Epidemic which spread across the continent. During the siege of Boston, both American And British troops were ravaged by the illness. Native Americans were particularly at risk, population on the western seaboard reduced by almost a third. Washington knew small pox could devastate the colonists chances of victory. He quarantined infected soldiers, refused to allow civilians near his troops and retreated from infected areas. He also ensured his soldiers were inoculated against the disease at a time when inoculation was controversial and people were aghast at the idea of deliberately infecting themselves. However, his actions worked and the disease was eradicated from his Army. Not only did Washington help win US independence, he also kick started public health initiatives
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