"Black Death" - (1989) PBS TIMELINE 'History As News' TV Series

Yo, have you ever heard of the Black Death? I just read this article about it and it’s wild. Apparently, back in the 1300s, this deadly disease killed around 50 million people in Europe. Can you imagine that?

Basically, the Black Death was caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis. It spread through fleas that lived on rats, and once it hit a town, it would wipe out a huge chunk of the population in just a few weeks. People would get these huge, painful boils on their skin, and sometimes they’d cough up blood. It was brutal.

What’s really interesting about this article, though, is that it talks about how the Black Death actually had some positive outcomes. For example, it led to wages going up for peasants because so many people had died that there weren’t enough workers left to do the jobs. It also made people start questioning the authority of the church because they couldn’t explain why God would let something so terrible happen.

One thing that stood out to me is how similar the Black Death is to COVID-19. Obviously, COVID is way less deadly, thank goodness, but it’s still a reminder that diseases can spread really quickly and have massive consequences.

Overall, I think this article is a great reminder of the power of diseases and how they can change the course of history. It’s also a good reminder to be grateful for modern medicine!