ELI5: black death
// explanation
What was the Black Death?
The Black Death was a super deadly sickness that spread across Europe a really long time ago, around 1346-1353 [1][2]. It was caused by a tiny germ called Yersinia pestis that lived in rats and spread to people, killing more people than almost anything else in history [4].
How did people catch it?
Rats carried the disease, and fleas that lived on the rats would bite people and give them the sickness [4]. When sick people coughed or sneezed, they could also give it to other people around them [3].
What happened to sick people?
People who got the Black Death would get really, really sick very quickly—sometimes dying within just one week [5]. They would get painful bumps, fevers, and their bodies would fail them [3].
How many people died?
About 50 million people died from the Black Death, which was almost half of all the people living in Europe at that time [1][2]. It was the worst disaster that ever happened to Europe up until modern times [2].
// sources
The Black Death was a plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as 50 million ...
Mar 11, 2026 ... Black Death, pandemic that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351, taking a proportionately greater toll of life than any other known epidemic or war up to that ...
Sep 17, 2010 ... The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. The plague arrived in ...
Mar 3, 2005 ... The Black Death was an epidemic of bubonic plague, a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that circulates among wild rodents where ...
Mar 10, 2011 ... The Black Death was 'a squalid disease that killed within a week' and a national trauma that utterly transformed Britain. Dr Mike Ibeji follows its deadly path.
Video by The Infographics Show
Video by The Infographics Show
Video by National Geographic
