The remnants of the past
During the year 88 BCE, a massacre known as the Asiatic Vespers occurred in western Anatolia. This genocidal act took place under the order of Mithridates VI, the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus, resulting in the deaths of approximately 80,000 Roman and Latin-speaking individuals. This event sparked the First Mithridatic War (89–85 BCE) between the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Pontus.
The Rhineland massacres refer to a string of mass killings carried out by German Christian mobs during the People's Crusade, which took place from April to October 1096 as a preliminary stage of the First Crusade. Approximately 12,000 individuals lost their lives in what is commonly seen as the first occurrence in a series of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe that ultimately led to the Holocaust.
The Lisbon massacre, which started on April 19, 1506, saw Catholics attacking and causing harm to hundreds of individuals accused of being Jews. The victims were persecuted, tortured, killed, and some were even burnt at the stake. With nearly 2,000 lives lost, this monument in Lisbon's Largo São Domingos serves as a commemoration of the tragic event.
During his campaign to conquer Mexico, Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) carried out a brutal act by ordering the slaughter of unarmed Aztec noblemen. The Spanish conquistadors, aided by Cortes' Tlaxcalan allies who saw the Cholulans as their long-standing enemies, took part in the massacre. In just a few hours, thousands of Cholula residents were killed.
Also referred to as the Second Battle of Warsaw, the Praga massacre occurred in 1794 during the Kościuszko Uprising. Russian forces launched an attack on Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, resulting in the tragic deaths of an estimated 7,000 to 20,000 innocent civilians.
During the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829), a devastating act of genocide occurred on the Greek island of Chios in 1822. Ottoman troops massacred tens of thousands of Greeks, marking one of history's most tragic and far-reaching genocides.
The Wounded Knee massacre took place on December 29, 1890, in South Dakota, where approximately 150-300 Lakota Indians were killed by United States Army troops. In 1965, the Wounded Knee battlefield was designated as a US National Historic Landmark. A photo from 1940 shows a simple sign honoring this tragic event.
The Hamidian massacres refer to the genocide that took place between 1894 and 1897, where Ottoman forces were responsible for the deaths of approximately 300,000 Armenians. These violent acts are named after Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918), who authorized the brutality.
On November 10, 1898, a group of white supremacists set fire to the offices of the Daily Record, a newspaper owned by black individuals located in Wilmington, North Carolina. Following this act, the assailants took to the streets and began shooting at African-American civilians who were desperately trying to escape. Eventually, these rioters managed to overthrow the racially diverse city government, which historians have since referred to as a coup d'état. Tragically, this violent incident resulted in the deaths of approximately 300 people of color.
The Ludlow massacre occurred on April 20, 1914, in Ludlow, Colorado. It involved an assault on coal miners and their families who were on strike, carried out by the Colorado National Guard and guards from the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. Notably, billionaire industrialist John D. Rockefeller Jr., who had partial ownership of the company, is said to have orchestrated the attack. The violent incident resulted in the loss of 21 lives, including women and children.
The nation was left in shock when British troops opened fire on unarmed Indians at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab. The incident occurred during a public meeting where people had gathered to protest against the arrest of pro-Indian independence leaders.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Greenwood district witnessed an alarming act of racial violence on May 31, 1921. The incident, widely regarded as one of the most devastating in US history, involved white residents attacking and demolishing the homes and businesses of their black neighbors. Tragically, approximately 200 people of color were killed, alongside around 50 white residents. This resulted in an additional 10,000 African Americans being left without homes.
The "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" was one of the most over-reported and glamorized killings of the 20th century. This hit was orchestrated by Al Capone, a notorious mobster from Chicago, and targeted seven members of a rival gang during the Prohibition era. The depicted store-garage where the shootings occurred was later demolished in the year 1967.
The acts committed by Imperial Japanese soldiers against the inhabitants of Nanjing, China, during December-January of 1937-38, are considered to be one of the most appalling crimes against humanity in history. It is estimated that up to 300,000 Chinese people lost their lives. Although Prince Yasuhiko Asaka (1887-1981) is believed to have ordered the attack, he was never held accountable for his actions.
During the Second World War, a significant massacre known as Katyn occurred, amid many other atrocities. Between April and May 1940, the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, ruthlessly murdered 22,000 Polish military officers and intelligentsia in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk. In 1943, German forces discovered their mass graves, initially attributing the killings to the Nazis. Not until 1990 did Russian authorities accept responsibility for the crime and acknowledge the Soviet government's nearly 50-year cover-up. The image displays personal possessions belonging to one of the corpses exhumed from the site.
Few retaliatory actions can compare to the brutal act perpetrated against the inhabitants of the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane by the Nazis on June 10, 1944. In response to the capture of one of their colleagues by the French Resistance in a neighboring village, members of a Waffen-SS unit callously murdered more than 600 residents. To further exacerbate their ruthlessness, they proceeded to completely destroy Oradour-sur-Glane. President Charles de Gaulle later ordered that the ruins of the village be preserved indefinitely as a memorial and museum.
During World War II, the Waffen-SS committed a horrific act by unlawfully killing 84 American Army prisoners of war near Malmedy, Belgium, on December 17, 1944. Following the war, several members of the SS involved were put on trial at Dachau (pictured).
During the early stages of the Korean War, North Korean soldiers committed a war crime known as the Hill 303 massacre. This atrocity took place on a hill in South Korea called Waegwan, where 40 American prisoners of war were shot and killed. The incident remains a significant event in the history of the war.
The Sharpeville massacre took place on March 21, 1960 at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville in Transvaal, which is now part of Gauteng. Following a series of protests against the Pass Laws, a large group of approximately 5,000 to 7,000 black demonstrators gathered outside the police building. Tragically, the South African police responded by firing upon the crowd, resulting in the deaths of 69 people.
On the morning of August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman ascended to the summit of the University of Texas Tower in Austin and initiated a random shooting spree targeting pedestrians below. A total of 15 individuals tragically lost their lives on that fateful day, including Whitman's mother and wife, whom he had murdered earlier. Austin police officers eventually intervened, ending the violent rampage by fatally shooting Whitman. This incident stands as one of the most devastating mass killings in US history, notable for being the first to be witnessed "live" in the era of mass media.
On March 16, 1968, a group of American soldiers invaded the village of My Lai in South Vietnam and viciously killed approximately 500 individuals, including men, women, and children. This horrific event became widely known in November 1969, leading to worldwide condemnation and disgust towards the US military.
Also known as Bloody Sunday, the Bogside massacre occurred on January 30, 1972, in Derry, Northern Ireland. During the incident, 13 unarmed civilians were fatally shot by British Army members. The image shows the coffins of several victims displayed in a church.
The massacre in Sabra and Shatila refugee camp, Beirut on September 18, 1982, where between 460 and 3,500 civilians, predominantly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, were killed by the Lebanese Forces militia, drew widespread condemnation. The Israeli Defense Forces, the militia's ally, witnessed the killings without intervening.
The Srebrenica–Potočari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide displays a large number of shovels in a symbolic arrangement. Located near Srebrenica, this cemetery serves as the final resting place for approximately 6,000 out of the 8,000 Muslim men and boys who lost their lives in the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995.
In April 1996, Australia experienced a devastating event when Martin Bryant, acting alone, carried out a massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania. This horrific act resulted in the loss of 35 lives. The Seascape Guesthouse, where Bryant was eventually apprehended, now serves as a memorial site for this tragic incident. It remains the most severe massacre committed by a single individual in modern Australian history.
See also: The most mysterious murders of all time
The events that occurred in Yangzhou are widely recognized as the most significant and brutal massacre in history. On May 10, 1645, Qing dynasty forces under the command of Dodo, Prince Yu (pictured) attacked the city of Yangzhou and killed 800,000 innocent civilians over the next 10 days. The image displayed here is a woodblock print from the late-Qing era that depicts this horrific event.
The Boston massacre was a violent riot that took place on March 5, 1770. British soldiers fired upon a group of unarmed colonists, resulting in the deaths of five protesters. Propagandists seized upon this event to advocate for independence from England.
The Peterloo tragedy occurred on August 16, 1819, at St Peter's Field in Manchester, England. Roughly 60,000 protesters advocating for democracy and fighting against poverty were forcefully met by cavalry, resulting in the death of eighteen individuals.
Take a moment to explore these alarming historical massacres that shook the world and left an indelible mark on our collective memory. Click through the gallery to get started.
Massacres that shaped history
Horrific instances of brutal human slaughter
LIFESTYLE History
History has documented numerous horrifying massacres throughout the ages. These instances of ruthless and indiscriminate slaughter date back to ancient times. However, some of the most appalling acts of bloodshed occurred more recently, making them all the more shocking. Regardless of the motives or triggers behind these tragic events, each one serves as a disturbing reminder of the depths to which humanity can sink.
Take a moment to explore these alarming historical massacres that shook the world and left an indelible mark on our collective memory. Click through the gallery to get started.