15 Catastrophes that changed history and that humanity does not let fall into oblivion

Throughout history, humanity has survived several catastrophes that caused material damage, destroyed civilizations and claimed millions of lives. Over the years, such events have become part of people’s collective memory, so they should be remembered forever, making it clear that, no matter what the tragedy, if we all work together, we can overcome it.

O awesome.club brings you a list of 15 catastrophes that changed history and that still remain in our memory today.

It is not at all difficult to find representations in which those very particular masks used by doctors in the 14th century appear to treat their patients during the Black Death, a disease that claimed the lives of around 45 million people. Many claim that the plague boosted the Renaissance, due to the need to think of new strategies for trade and work.

Today, this event is remembered in many ways. One of the most famous examples is the movie “Beauty and the Beast”, in which the explanation of a character’s destiny is related to the plague (but if you don’t know who we are talking about, it’s better to watch it, because we are against spoilers).

In August 1769 lightning struck Brescia, Italy. Perhaps a natural phenomenon like this does not sound like something so “catastrophic”, but it turned out to be. Lightning surprisingly fell on a bulwark that was loaded with gunpowder, which caused an explosion of such magnitude that it destroyed a large part of the city and killed around 3,000 people.

After the event, the Church, which had objections to the use of lightning rods, gave permission for them to place them. Laws favoring the private storage of gunpowder were also established. From the wreckage, the Italians rebuilt the Church of Sant’Alessandro, and designed a beautiful square around it.

It is speculated that the smallpox virus had existed since before, but it was in 18th century Europe that it wreaked havoc, killing millions of people. To make matters worse, when the European conquerors arrived on American lands, they infected the natives. Finally, all countries entered into an agreement to join forces and eradicate this disease. Therefore, in 1803 Operation Balmis was carried out, in which the doctor with that name traveled the world with the vaccine.

To get to America, Balmis needed 22 orphaned children who left their land and traveled with the cure injected into them. This method was the only one that allowed traveling from one continent to another without losing the effects of the vaccine. Today, these children are still being remembered with monuments and even a film, “22 Ángeles”.

In 1845, a series of facts triggered the famine in Ireland: first, a fungus infected the crop; then the prolonged winter caught everyone off guard; finally, many peasants emigrated to cities that did not have adequate infrastructure for a sudden population growth, which generated misery and disease. Faced with that scenario, several countries took the initiative to contribute with charitable actions, even before Ireland asked for help.

Currently, the country remembers those years on the national day of hunger, taking walks, respecting minutes of silence for those who suffered at that time and promoting artistic expressions on the subject, so that history is not forgotten. Even the Irish band U2 created a song on the subject, “Van Diemen’s Land”.

Even though it is not the first story involving large volcanic eruptions, this case, in 1883, occurred with such violence that an entire island exploded without leaving any survivors. Its intensity even exceeded the bomb of Hiroshima🇧🇷 It is also claimed that the sound of the eruption was so thunderous that from miles away it was still capable of damaging ears.

However, the catastrophe was also the beginning of some scientific discoveries.since when experts detected the ash flying hundreds of kilometers away from where it originated, arrived at the Theory of Wind Speed, which made it possible to track air currents. Furthermore, the dust particles from the volcano generated, for a time, a series of colors and shapes in the clouds that, according to some studies, visually inspired the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch to paint his masterpiece, The Scream.

The Titanic left England on April 10, 1912 and, after a few days, sank because of an iceberg collision, killing 1,500 people from all social classes. Various human errors led to tragedy: at the time of the sinking, there were no lifeboats for all the passengers; nearby boats did not help because they did not understand the emergency lights and, in addition, the radio operator did not hear the distress call because he was sleeping. As if that were not enough, the number of victims could have been lower, as the first lifeboats left almost empty, as no one believed that the boat would actually sink.

This tragedy changed the regulations regarding safety measures on ships. Modifications were made to the designs of vessels in such a way that they withstand damage and the International Ice Patrol was even created to control the movement of icebergs. Over the years, documentaries have been produced in honor of the victims and books explaining the sequence of events. The most outstanding work, of course, was the film “Titanic”, from 1997, which portrays the glamor of the transatlantic and its destruction.

In 1918, this flu killed about of 100 million people or between 3% and 5% of the world’s population. The catastrophe made no distinction between classes, reaching from the lowest sectors of society to kings and celebrities, such as the artist Edvard Munch — the same one who painted the painting The Scream, already mentioned here. He ended up surviving, and had his self-portrait framed as a memorial.

The disease did not originate in Spain, but it was the country in Europe where it had the greatest repercussions in the media, because the other nations were going through a period of censorship due to the First World War. Fortunately, over time, the virus mutated until it became less lethal, so much so that, by 1919, the number of victims had dropped considerably.

World War II started in 1939 and lasted 6 years. Not only was it a big catastrophe to make around 70 million victims, but also for breaking political relationships and segmenting territories. At its end, and with the aim of avoiding a similar story, the United Nations Organization (UNO) was created, which strives to avoid war conflicts, guarantee peace treaties and ensure that human rights are respected.

Thousands of artists spoke about what was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with the aim of not forgetting the tragedy and avoiding the repetition of mistakes. An example is the movie Life is Beautifulwhich demonstrates that even in the midst of pain and injustice, it is possible to find beauty in life.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, the United States detonated two nuclear bombs, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, killing 335,000 people. Many died that day, and large numbers suffered during the months afterward from wounds, radiation, and starvation. This event led Japan to surrender, ending the war.

Projects such as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) were then initiated, which several countries have signed on to promote nuclear disarmament. Over the years, Japan has sought to foster remembrance by building squares and monuments. A cinematographic work called Tomb of the Fireflies represents the victims’ hunger and feelings of powerlessness, so that the tragedy does not fall into oblivion.

In 1960 there was an earthquake in Valdivia, Chile, of such magnitude that it was Considered one of the most destructive in history, leaving thousands dead and millions injured. Such was its strength that it also triggered the eruption of a volcano, floods and a tsunami that affected other places on the planet. About the event, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote a poem in his book The Barcarolle, in which he tried to immortalize his feeling of anguish over the news. Neruda sold the poem and donated the proceeds to earthquake victims.

In 1986, a failed test with a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, in the then Soviet Union, caused a hydrogen explosion that impregnated the entire region with radioactive materials, generating an accident more toxic than the Hiroshima bomb and what is to date the largest nuclear accident in history. Soviet authorities had to evacuate a huge area around the plant, relocate thousands of people, disable entire zones for years and warn 13 European countries of danger of radioactivity. As if that were not enough, the tragedy also caused health problems in many inhabitants for several years.

The event led the authorities to intensify supervision of the reactors and made people aware of the risks that nuclear energy can cause to the environment. Many campaigns against contamination have been launched. Painters, writers and musicians were inspired by the event to express their repudiation, as was the case with David Bowie, who, in his album Time Will Crawl, addresses the abuses of industries that harm nature.

The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, planned by Osama bin Laden, was accompanied live by millions of people, being one of the few catastrophes that the rest of the Planet watched on television in real time. Two planes were hijacked with their passengers hostage to crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. At first, with the first crash, it was thought to be an air crash, until the second plane made it clear that it was an attack.

The catastrophe caused the death of thousands of innocent people, generating a feeling of rejection of foreigners (especially of Arab origin) and an arms race. But it also awakened the heroic side of people who were willing to give their lives to rescue victims. Many countries joined forces, creating anti-terrorist laws. Additionally, various artists have kept the memories alive in different ways. One case is the movie World Trade Center, which tells the story of the first two police officers who arrived at the scene of the tragedy.