Bubonic plague

human and animal disease

17 dated entries naming Bubonic plague, drawn from 17 separate years between 406 BCE and 1894 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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5th century BC

406 BCEThe Carthaginians again invade Sicily and attack Agrigentum (Acragas). Plague breaks out in their camp and Hannibal Mago dies. Himilco assumes command and captures Agrigentum (Acragas), Gela and Camarina. Gela is destroyed and its treasures sacked. The survivors take refuge in Syracuse. The plague is carried back to Carthage by its soldiers.source

4th century BC

397 BCESiege of Syracuse: A Carthaginian expeditionary army (some 50,000 men) under Himilco crosses to Sicily. They conquer the north coast and put Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, on the defensive and besiege Syracuse. However, the Carthaginian army suffers from the plague. The Syracuse counterattacked and completely defeat Himilco's army. Himilco has to escape back to Carthage.source

3rd century

259Emperor Valerian leads an army (70,000 men) to relieve Edessa, besieged by the forces of Persian King Shapur I. An outbreak of a plague kills many legionaries, weakening the Roman position in Syria.source

6th century

541Plague of Justinian: Bubonic plague appears suddenly in the Egyptian port of Pelusium, spreading to Alexandria and, the following year, to Constantinople. This is the beginning of a 200-year-long pandemic that will devastate Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.source
542Plague of Justinian: Bubonic plague, spread from Egypt, kills at least 230,000 in Constantinople (modern Istanbul; before counting stops), and perhaps two million or more in the rest of the empire. Emperor Justinian I contracts the disease but recovers.source
589The plague hits Rome, and its victims include Pope Pelagius II.source
590The Franks and Burgundians under King Guntram invade Italy. They capture the cities Milan and Verona, but are forced to leave by a plague outbreak in the Po Valley.source

7th century

663A brief outbreak of plague hits Britain (approximate date).source
686Plague kills almost all of the Benedictine monks in the monastery of Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey (Northumbria), aside from the abbot Ceolfrith and one small boy – future scholar Bede.source

8th century

745Bubonic plague in Asia Minor kills 1/3 of the population, and subsequently sweeps through the Peloponnese (Balkan Peninsula) (approximate date).source
747Bubonic plague breaks out in Sicily, Calabria (Southern Italy), and Monemvasia (modern Greece).source

14th century

1346Spring – A severe Bubonic Plague epidemic begins in the Crimea, marking the first major epidemic of the Black Death.source

16th century

1525The Bubonic plague spreads in southern France.source
1528Bubonic plague breaks out in England.source

17th century

1665April 12 – The burial of Margaret Porteous is recorded; hers is the first known death during the Great Plague of London. This last major outbreak of Bubonic plague in the British Isles has possibly been introduced from the Netherlands. Two-thirds of Londoners leave the city, but over 68,000 die. The plague spreads to Derbyshire.source

18th century

1738August 10 – Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Russian army begins its attempt to cross the Dniester River and fails after three weeks; it is later decimated by plague.source

19th century

1894May – Third plague pandemic: Bubonic plague breaks out in the Tai Ping Shan area of Hong Kong (by the end of the year, the death toll is 2,552 people); it also breaks out this year in Canton.source