Many horrific catastrophes have rocked the world and shaped history forever. However, some of these events were apparently worse than initially perceived.
A Reddit question recently went viral: “What event in history is grislier or grosser than we think?” Commenters unearthed these tragedies with some extra information that many likely didn’t know until then.
Someone talked about how horrific medicine was before anesthetics and painkillers. Another individual who claimed to have been on the scene painted a picture of the atrocities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
This list is quite dark, but it provides insight into the harsh realities of these historic mishaps. Scroll through this somber trip down memory lane.
#1
The Irish Famine. It was actually a genocide and gets downplayed quite frequently as a result of a potato blight but it was more than that. The British shipped out any and every morsel of food available and the Irish were left with nothing to eat. Forced to eat grass or whatever was available and others (millions) fled across the sea to America.
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159points
#2
The Belgians' treatment of the people of the Congo during King Leopold's reign.
If a parent worker didn't meet their quota, it was common practice to cut off the hand or foot of one of their children.
If a parent worker didn't meet their quota, it was common practice to cut off the hand or foot of one of their children.
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142points
#3
The Trail of Tears.
Zapkin:
I live in Memphis, and there are signs around that say ‘Path of the Historic Trail of Tears.’ As a kid, I didn’t think much of it, but now I can’t help but think about how those people were going through one of the worst things imaginable, carrying what little they had, with hundreds of miles to go—and now I drive on that path to get to Target. We really don’t do enough educating on the topic here in the states.
Zapkin:
I live in Memphis, and there are signs around that say ‘Path of the Historic Trail of Tears.’ As a kid, I didn’t think much of it, but now I can’t help but think about how those people were going through one of the worst things imaginable, carrying what little they had, with hundreds of miles to go—and now I drive on that path to get to Target. We really don’t do enough educating on the topic here in the states.
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142points
#4
The atrocities carried out by the Imperial Army before and during WW2. Truly horrific, inhumane s**t.
Yes, Americans, the Russians, and the British did some ghoulish s**t, but Japan’s Imperial Army did next level cruelty.
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) were responsible for a multitude of war crimes leading to millions of deaths. War crimes ranged from sexual slavery and massacres to human experimentation, torture, starvation, and forced labor, all either directly committed or condoned by the Japanese military and government.
Evidence of these crimes, including oral testimonies and written records such as diaries and war journals, has been provided by Japanese veterans.
Yes, Americans, the Russians, and the British did some ghoulish s**t, but Japan’s Imperial Army did next level cruelty.
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) were responsible for a multitude of war crimes leading to millions of deaths. War crimes ranged from sexual slavery and massacres to human experimentation, torture, starvation, and forced labor, all either directly committed or condoned by the Japanese military and government.
Evidence of these crimes, including oral testimonies and written records such as diaries and war journals, has been provided by Japanese veterans.
121points
#5
I'd argue many people don't know about the Holodomor. Hell, I didn't until I started learning about it after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. I'm not a major history buff and I'm on the (literal) opposite side of the planet, which is probably why I didn't know about it, but still... Death toll estimated between 3.5-7 million (some estimates as high as 11) with most settling around the 3.9 million mark. That's the number of Ukrainian people who died in the Holodomor. It was a man-made famine in 1930-1933. Genocide carried out by Stalin on the Ukrainian people.
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120points
#6
Unit 731. The majority of what we know about hypothermia comes from the cruelty of Japanese scientist to POWs at this place during WW2.
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96points
#7
Reading about the Sand Creek massacre in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee forever changed my perspective on the American West. The details are absolutely horrific especially what happened to the children.
88points
#8
The sinking of the SS Princess Alice
The ship sank in September 1878 in the River Thames 4 minutes after colliding with another ship. Around 600-700 passengers are thought to have died and a diver reported seeing masses of bodies jammed together still standing upright in the doorways.
What made this sinking particularly horrible was that the ship sank in an area where 75 million gallons of raw sewage had been released into the river an hour earlier. The water was also polluted by untreated waste coming from nearby chemical factories.
A chemist described the water as being “Two continuous columns of decomposed fermenting sewage, hissing like soda water with baneful gases, so black that the water is stained for miles and discharging a corrupt charnel-house odour”
16 passengers who had been rescued subsequently died within 2 weeks after accidentally ingesting the water. Many of the passengers couldn’t swim and were dragged under by the weight of their heavy woollen clothing.
Bodies that were recovered were covered in slime that was difficult to clean off and the corpses rotted extremely fast due to the polluted river water.
Drowning is awful enough but drowning in a river of raw sewage is a whole other level of horrible….
The ship sank in September 1878 in the River Thames 4 minutes after colliding with another ship. Around 600-700 passengers are thought to have died and a diver reported seeing masses of bodies jammed together still standing upright in the doorways.
What made this sinking particularly horrible was that the ship sank in an area where 75 million gallons of raw sewage had been released into the river an hour earlier. The water was also polluted by untreated waste coming from nearby chemical factories.
A chemist described the water as being “Two continuous columns of decomposed fermenting sewage, hissing like soda water with baneful gases, so black that the water is stained for miles and discharging a corrupt charnel-house odour”
16 passengers who had been rescued subsequently died within 2 weeks after accidentally ingesting the water. Many of the passengers couldn’t swim and were dragged under by the weight of their heavy woollen clothing.
Bodies that were recovered were covered in slime that was difficult to clean off and the corpses rotted extremely fast due to the polluted river water.
Drowning is awful enough but drowning in a river of raw sewage is a whole other level of horrible….
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88points
#9
The Armenian genocide. Turkish military would march Armenians to Syria, and put them in fenced sections of desert with no food, water, or shelter. The only way to get mercy was to try to break out, because they would shoot you and that's quicker.
88points
#10
Honestly, I recently spent some time learning more details about the September 11th attacks than I had learned from the news as a kid. This might not be uncommon knowledge, and maybe even a “yeah duh” from most people, but I don’t think I had ever realized the amount of human body parts that littered the streets around the towers.
There was a moment when first responders realized the periodic bangs they were hearing were jumpers hitting the ground. Eye witnesses said the bodies would explode into pink mist upon contact, and one fire fighter was even k*lled by a falling body. First responders were begging people to stop jumping, that they were coming to save them… not realizing that they wouldn’t be able to reach them, and that the buildings would soon collapse.
There was a moment when first responders realized the periodic bangs they were hearing were jumpers hitting the ground. Eye witnesses said the bodies would explode into pink mist upon contact, and one fire fighter was even k*lled by a falling body. First responders were begging people to stop jumping, that they were coming to save them… not realizing that they wouldn’t be able to reach them, and that the buildings would soon collapse.
81points
#11
The aftermath of Katrina in and around New Orleans. I was down there twice immediately after the storm and the stench from dead bodies was almost overwhelming.
My sister and BIL bought a house on the other side of lake pontchartrain a few months later and there were STILL bodies floating up on the north shore of the lake.
My sister and BIL bought a house on the other side of lake pontchartrain a few months later and there were STILL bodies floating up on the north shore of the lake.
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70points
#12
New London, TX school explosion.
"The force of the explosion was so great that a two-ton concrete block was thrown clear off the building and crushed a 1936 Chevrolet parked 200 feet away."
Why does the gas company add that odd smell to the natural gas supply???? Holy c**p!!! THIS is why.
"The force of the explosion was so great that a two-ton concrete block was thrown clear off the building and crushed a 1936 Chevrolet parked 200 feet away."
Why does the gas company add that odd smell to the natural gas supply???? Holy c**p!!! THIS is why.
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70points
#13
The Death chambers in Germany. I lived in Germany for a few years. You know how we all heard of the nazi's gassing Jews. I took a tour to one of these places. As I got of the bus I was assaulted my whole body tightened up goose bumps appeared my brain was screaming evil walks here. I did not go in. I sat on the bus and cried to myself.
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70points
#14
The sinking of the Britannic. Though she sunk with significantly fewer casualties than her sister ship Titanic, many of the deaths were due to the fact that the lifeboats were prematurely launched while the ship was still moving, which resulted in some of the lifeboats being sucked into the propellers, instantly obliterating the passengers on them.
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65points
#15
Syphilis.
When it first hit Europe it was nothing like the disease we know now.
It was fast-acting and MADE PEOPLE'S FACES ROT OFF (yes I do believe there are woodcuts of this).
As you might imagine, this was a bad transmission strategy long term for syphilis, so it eventually evolved into the decades-long misery we know today.
When it first hit Europe it was nothing like the disease we know now.
It was fast-acting and MADE PEOPLE'S FACES ROT OFF (yes I do believe there are woodcuts of this).
As you might imagine, this was a bad transmission strategy long term for syphilis, so it eventually evolved into the decades-long misery we know today.
64points
#16
WWII in Croatia. Ustashe commited crimes so gruesome that even the N*zis were shocked.
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59points
#17
The Great Stink of 1858 in London. The River Thames was so polluted with untreated human waste and industrial runoff that the city was overwhelmed by a horrific stench during a heatwave. It was so bad that Parliament had to be suspended, and the situation was considered a public health crisis. It wasn’t just gross, it contributed to outbreaks of cholera and other diseases.
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59points
#18
Before we had anesthetic and abundant pain k*llers, field surgery wells absolutely horrific. Here's a bottle of alcohol, we're going to saw your leg off now.
Also, most people doing the work were far from qualified to do the work, they were just slightly better than the next guy in the platoon. I remember reading a first person account of a Civil War nurse who was tasked with curing pneumonia by removing the fluid from a man's lungs. She was given explicit direction based on "I guess this is how the body works". The process was to heat up the rim of a metal rimmed shot glass, sear his chest, and pop the resulting blister, thus removing the water from his body. This was done twice an hour. He died 3 days into the removal, likely a combination of dehydration and infection.
Also, most people doing the work were far from qualified to do the work, they were just slightly better than the next guy in the platoon. I remember reading a first person account of a Civil War nurse who was tasked with curing pneumonia by removing the fluid from a man's lungs. She was given explicit direction based on "I guess this is how the body works". The process was to heat up the rim of a metal rimmed shot glass, sear his chest, and pop the resulting blister, thus removing the water from his body. This was done twice an hour. He died 3 days into the removal, likely a combination of dehydration and infection.
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58points
#19
Pretty much the entire Vietnam war. Open pits of burning bodies, and people being blown apart and impaled everywhere.
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57points
#20
Not really history, as both are still relevant, but they are a lot less so these days:
Ebola and rabies. What they do to a person is nightmare fuel.
hamburgersocks:
Rabies k*lls you by making your muscles spasm so hard you break your own back... if the hydrophobia doesn't dehydrate you first.
Still no cure if it's caught too late. Don't get bit, folks.
rricenator:
The stories of Ebola remind me of Poe, The Masque of the Red Death.
Ebola and rabies. What they do to a person is nightmare fuel.
hamburgersocks:
Rabies k*lls you by making your muscles spasm so hard you break your own back... if the hydrophobia doesn't dehydrate you first.
Still no cure if it's caught too late. Don't get bit, folks.
rricenator:
The stories of Ebola remind me of Poe, The Masque of the Red Death.
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56points