Fleas riding on black rats in the holds of Italian ships brought Yersina pestis to the Sicilian port of Messina
In 1346, spread by infected galleys coming from Kaffa (Crimea), the Black Death reached Genoa, as it now…
In an early act of biological warfare, Tartars catapulted the bodies of Plague victims at invading Christians
In 1346, during a siege of Kaffa (now Feodosia, Ukraine), the Tartar army catapulted bodies of plague victims…
The first hospitals were established in England
From 1050-1350 marked a particularly active phase of the disease that made necessary the introduction of large-scale specialist…
Outbreaks of bubonic plague declined after claiming half of Europe’s population
In 541, an outbreak of bubonic plague (yersina pestis), a bacterial disease later named the Black Plague or…
Roman emperor Justinian ordered travelers from plague infected regions isolated
Emperor Justinian I (482-565 BCE) contracted the plague, but survived. A series of laws were enacted against those…
The Plague of Athens devastated the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece
In 430 BCE, a plague struck the city of Athens, which was then under siege by Sparta during…
DNA evidence of plague found in Europe
Evidence from 4,800 to 3,700 years ago suggested the plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis, first arrived in Europe during…