Death Tolls

  • 300 million – smallpox, worldwide, 20th century
  • 200 million – bubonic plague, worldwide, 1300s
  • 62 million – World War II
  • 60 million – Mongol conquests, 13th century
  • 19 million – AIDS, worldwide to date
  • 1 million – Irish potato famine, 1846-1849
  • 830,000 – Shaanxi earthquake, China, 1556
  • 650,000 – Deaths in the Roman Colosseum for public entertainment, 80-404
  • 36,000 – Krakatoa eruption, Indonesia, 1883
  • 15,000 – Holy Inquisition, 1184-1800
  • 1,517 – RMS Titanic, 1912
  • 300 – Great Chicago Fire, 1871
  • 270 – Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie, Scotland, 1988
  • 36 – Hindenburg disaster, Lakehurst, N.J., 1937
  • 7 – Space shuttle Challenger, Florida, 1986
  • 4 – Kent State shootings