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Jan 1, 1338
First victim of the plague
The first named victims of the plague died in 1338 in the area around Lake Issyk Kul (Lake Baikal) in Russia, where a grave marker says, "In the year of the hare (1339). This is the grave of Kutluk. He died of the plague with his wife, Magnu-Kelka. -
Jan 1, 1340
Plague begins
Early 1340s - the disease had struck China, India, Persia, Syria and Egypt but not yet Europe -
Oct 1, 1347
Plague arrives in Europe
October 1347 - Plague arrived in Europe when 12 Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina, with almost all of the men infected with the black plague. The Sicilian authorities immediately ordered the “death ships” out of the harbor, but the disease had already spread. -
Jan 1, 1348
The genocide of Jews
1348 - 1349 - Thousands of Jews were massacred due mobs in the cities eradicating them for god's forgiveness from the plague (Thousands more fled to the sparsely populated regions of Eastern Europe where they could be safe from the rampaging mobs in the cities) -
May 1, 1349
Plague reaches Norway
In May 1349, the plague reached Bergen, Norway, on a ship carrying wool from England. Within days of arriving in Bergen, the crew and passengers of the ship had all died. -
Jan 1, 1350
The plague ends (kinda)
Early 1350s - The Black Death epidemic had run its course but reappeared every few generations for centuries. Modern sanitation and public-health practices have greatly reduced the impact of the disease but have not eliminated it. -
Return of the plague
Plague had been around in England for centuries but in 1665 the Great Plague returned to hit the country. The plague was only finally brought under control in 1666 when the Great Fire of London burned down the areas most affected by plague (and killed all the plague carrying rats) -
The Great fire of London
The great fire of London was a large fire that raged on the night of September 2, 1666. The one positive effect of the fire was that the plague diminished greatly due to the mass death of the plague-carrying rats. -
3rd plague
A third pandemic began in China and India in the 1890s and eventually reached the United States, with infections being especially dangerous in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was during this pandemic that the actual cause was discovered, along with a cure.
- Many houses were burned when it reappeared in China in an attempt to end the spread -
Plague in Madagascar
An outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar claimed 50 victims and spread to the island's capital. There were 138 suspected cases of the disease since the start of that year, with the death toll of 47 expected to rise in the coming months.
