Dark historical events

Here are some of the darkest, most disturbing events in human history — many of which are downplayed, forgotten, or still partially hidden, or whose full scale is hard to comprehend.

These are not in strict order of “worst,” because comparing genocides and atrocities is often impossible.

“Dark historical events” refer to periods or incidents marked by immense suffering, violence, and tragedy on a large scale. 

Man-made Disasters and violence

The Holocaust:

One of the most tragic events in human history, the Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators, along with millions of others including the Romani, people with disabilities, and political opponents.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade:

This dark period involved the trafficking of millions of Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas, where they were forced into brutal enslavement for centuries.

World Wars (WWI and WWII):

Both global conflicts were characterized by unprecedented scales of violence, loss of life, and atrocities committed by various parties.

Millions perished on battlefields and through associated events like the Holocaust and war-induced pandemics.

The Nanjing Massacre:

During the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Japanese forces captured the city of Nanjing and engaged in a horrific three-month campaign of slaughter, rape, and destruction, which remains one of China’s darkest episodes.

The Bangladesh Genocide (1971):

During the Liberation War, the Pakistani army inflicted brutal repression, torture, killings, and mass rape on the Bengali population in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). 

Calamities and shocking events

The Black Death (Bubonic Plague):

This devastating pandemic in the mid-14th century originated in Asia and ravaged Europe, killing an estimated 100 to 200 million people and fundamentally changing the course of history.

The 1257 Samalas Eruption:

Considered one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in human history, this event caused the collapse of old civilizations and significantly altered the global climate.

Jonestown:

In 1978, the followers of cult leader Jim Jones committed mass murder-suicide in a remote jungle compound in Guyana, resulting in the deaths of 918 people in one of the darkest tragedies of the modern era.

The Hinterkaifeck Murders:

In 1922, all six inhabitants of a remote German farmstead were brutally killed with a pickaxe in an unsolved and highly unsettling crime.

The Dancing Plague of 1518:

A strange and scary event where a large group of people in Strasbourg began to dance uncontrollably for days, leading to injuries and deaths from exhaustion and heart attacks.

Pre-20th Century

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (1526–1867) 12–15 million Africans forcibly shipped; 2–4 million died en route. Families destroyed, cultures erased, economies built on centuries of rape and torture.

Colonization of the Americas (1492–1900) Estimated 50–100 million Indigenous deaths from disease, massacres,

and enslavement. Events like the Potosí silver mines (Bolivia) killed ~8 million native Andeans in forced labor under the Spanish.

Belgian Congo Free State (1885–1908) King Leopold II’s personal colony. 10 million+ Congolese killed or worked to death for rubber. Hands severed as punishment; entire villages exterminated.

• Nanjing Massacre (1937–1938) 200,000–300,000 Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers killed by Japanese troops; tens of thousands of rapes, including infants and elderly.

Horrific Historical events

Unit 731 (Japan, 1937–1945)

Japanese biological/chemical warfare unit in China. Vivisections without anesthesia, plague bombs, frostbite experiments on prisoners (including children).

Great Leap Forward Famine (China, 1958–1962)

30–45 million deaths from starvation and violence during Mao’s policies. Some provinces resorted to cannibalism.

Partition of India (1947)

1–2 million killed, 15 million displaced in Hindu-Muslim massacres and rapes as Britain hastily left.

East Timor Genocide (1975–1999)

Indonesian occupation killed ~200,000 (⅓ of population) through starvation and massacres; largely ignored by the West because Indonesia was anti-communist.

Anfal Campaign against Iraqi Kurds (1986–1989)

Saddam Hussein’s chemical attacks (including Halabja, where 5,000 died in one day) and village exterminations; ~100,000–180,000 killed.

Recent (as of 2025)

Yazidi Genocide (2014–2017 by ISIS Thousands killed, thousands of women and girls enslaved and raped; mass graves still being uncovered.

Uyghur Camps (China, 2017–present) 1–3 million detained in “re-education” camps; forced sterilization, torture, cultural erasure. Recognized as genocide by several parliaments.