The deadliest plague to ever spread was undoubtedly the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death. It swept across the world in the first half of the 14th century, killing around 100 million people worldwide. Even though it didn’t go global until the medieval era, the plague is actually quite a bit older than that. For the most part, it’s believed that the plague first developed around China, approximately 2,000 years ago, but there has been some research suggesting it that the pathogen that causes the plague may have been present in Europe as early as 3,000 BC.
The plague hit Europe in October 1347, carried by 12 ships which had come from the Black Sea and docked in Messina, according to history.com. When the ships arrived, many of their crew were either dead or dying, and showing a truly gruesome array of symptoms. The most notable and obvious of those symptoms were eruptions of black boils on their bodies, which oozed pus and blood. The ships were ordered out of the harbor, but the damage was done. The first Europeans were infected, and the plague tore through Europe several times over the intervening years.
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