The Worst Epidemics Throughout History

Plague of Athens

A pandemic took the lives of many Athens' city-dwellers. The disease ravaged the town from 430-435 BC. SIt is believed that over 100,000 people died during the epidemic. Thucydides, a Greek historian of the era, described the scene saying that "people in good health were all of a sudden attacked by violent heats in the head, and redness and inflammation in the eyes, [...] becoming bloody and emitting an unnatural breath."

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The More You Know

  • War pigs were used in ancient warfare to counter against war elephants, which feared the pigs (and their squeals) and would bolt. War pigs were sometimes lit on fire to enhance this effect.
  • T-shirts were originally made for unmarried men who didn't know how to sew buttons on collared shirts.
  • Danny Devito used to work as a hairdresser. For corpses.
  • A species of squid has been observed to leap from the ocean by using pressurized water jets to achieve flight, going as far as 98 feet!
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