Black Death

Pandemic; aka Black Plague

The Black Death was a devastating pandemic that first struck Europe in the mid-14th century (1347–51), killing up to a third of Europe's population, an estimated 34 million people. Almost simultaneous epidemics occurred across large portions of Asia and the Middle East during the same period, indicating that the European outbreak was actually part of a multi-regional pandemic. Including Middle Eastern lands, India, and China, the Black Death killed at least 75 million people. The same disease is thought to have returned to Europe every generation with varying degrees of intensity and fatality until the 1700s. Notable later outbreaks include the Italian Plague of 1629-1631, the Great Plague of London (1665–66), and the Great Plague of Vienna (1679).

Generally considered to have been the Bubonic Plague.