Events
c. 65,000,000 B.C.E.: Yucatán Peninsula meteorite
c. 1470 B.C.E.: Thera eruption, Aegean Sea
430 B.C.E.: The Plague of Athens
64 C.E.: The Great Fire of Rome
79 C.E.: Vesuvius eruption, Italy
526: Syria earthquake
1200: Egypt famine
1320: The Black Death, Europe
1520: Aztec Empire smallpox epidemic
1574: The Flood of Leiden, Netherlands
1657: The Meireki Fire, Japan
1665: The Great Plague of London
1666: The Great Fire of London
1669: Etna eruption, Sicily
1755: Lisbon earthquake, Portugal
1783: Laki eruption, Iceland
1811: New Madrid earthquakes, Missouri
1815: Tambora eruption, Indonesia
1845: The Great Irish Famine
1871: The Great Chicago Fire
1871: Wisconsin fire
1872: The Great Boston Fire
1878: Mississippi Valley yellow fever epidemic
1880: England mine explosion
1883: Krakatau eruption, Indonesia
1888: The Great Blizzard of 1888, U.S. Northeast
1889: The Johnstown Flood, Pennsylvania
1892: Worldwide cholera epidemic
1900: New York State typhoid fever epidemic
1900: Galveston Hurricane, Texas
1902: Pelée eruption, Martinique
1906: The Great San Francisco Earthquake
1908: Siberia comet or meteorite
1908: Italy earthquake
1909: Illinois fire
1914: West Virginia mine explosion
1914: Canada ship collision in fog
1916: United States polio epidemic
1918: Worldwide influenza epidemic
1923: The Great Kwanto Earthquake, Japan
1925: The Great Tri-State Tornado, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana
1926: The Great Miami Hurricane
1928: St. Francis Dam Collapse, Southern California
1928: San Felipe Hurricane, Florida and Caribbean
1932: Dust Bowl, Great Plains
1937: The Hindenburg Disaster, New Jersey
1938: The Great New England Hurricane of 1938
1946: Hawaii tsunami
1947: Texas ship explosion
1952: The Great London Fog
1953: North Sea flood, Netherlands, Great Britain, and Belgium
1953: The Flint-Beecher Tornado, Michigan and Ohio
1957: Hurricane Audrey, Louisiana and Texas
1959: The Great Leap Forward Famine, China
1963: The Vaiont Dam Disaster landslide, Italy
1964: The Great Alaska Earthquake
1965: U.S. Midwest tornado
1966: The Aberfan Disaster landslide, Wales
1969: Hurricane Camille, U.S. South
1970: Peru earthquake
1970: East Pakistan cyclone
1974: The Jumbo Tornado Outbreak, U.S. South, Midwest, and Canada
1976: Zaire and Sudan Ebola virus epidemic
1976: Legionnaires' disease epidemic, Philadelphia
1976: China earthquake
1980's: AIDS epidemic
1980: Mount St. Helens eruption, Washington State
1982: El Chichón eruption, Mexico
1982: Pacific Ocean El Niño
1984: Africa famine
1985: Mexico City earthquake
1986: Lake Nyos eruption, Cameroon
1988: Yellowstone National Park fire
1988: Armenia earthquake
1989: Hurricane Hugo, Caribbean and the Carolinas
1989: Loma Prieta earthquake, Northern California
1991: Pinatubo eruption, Philippines
1991: The Oakland Hills Fire, Northern California
1992: Hurricane Andrew, Florida, Louisiana, and Bahamas
1993: The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1993
1994: Northridge earthquake, Southern California
1995: Kobe earthquake, Japan
1995: Zaire Ebola virus epidemic
1995: U.S. Midwest and Northwest heat wave
1996: Nepal blizzard
1997: Texas tornado
1997: Soufrière Hills eruption, Montserrat
1998: Papua New Guinea tsunami
1998: Hurricane Mitch, Central America
1999: Austria avalanche
1999: Oklahoma and Kansas tornado
1999: Turkey earthquake
2002-2003: SARS epidemic, Asia and Canada
2003: Europe heat wave
2003: Southern California fires
2003: Iran earthquake
2004: Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Indonesia, Thailand, and India
2005: Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida
2005: Pakistan (Kashmir) earthquake
2006: Philippines mudslide