Disasters

Natural catastrophes and man-made calamities have caused loss of life and destruction throughout human history. Header image: Shutterstock.com

Erfurt Cathedral

The Erfurt Latrine Disaster: History’s grossest tragedy?
Rendering of a fiery asteroid entering the Earth's atmosphere

6 biggest asteroid strikes on Earth
Bill Clinton gestures with his hands while being interviewed in 2024

11 key contributors to 'Kursk: 10 Days That Shaped Putin'
Vladimir Putin speaking in 2000

How the Kursk Submarine Disaster changed Putin’s rule
Crew members of the Kursk stand on its deck during a parade in July 2000

The Kursk Submarine Disaster
A memorial plaque on the side of Old Trafford football stadium in honour of the Munich Air Disaster

5 deadly aviations disasters involving sports teams
Dr Jim Swire standing with two police officers in the background

The Lockerbie bombing: Jim Swire's pursuit of justice
The wreck of the Marchioness pleasure boat beached on the bank of the Thames

Tragedy on the Thames: The Marchioness disaster
Sign outside Gander International Airport on a snowy day

Come From Away: The true story behind the musical based on 9/11
Apollo 13 crew members with their hands on a Lunar Globe

Apollo 13: A survival mission against the odds
Sellafield nuclear power station

The Windscale Fire: Britain's worst nuclear disaster in history
US flags next to victims' names at the Ground Zero memorial

Science vs parapsychology: A closer look at 9/11 premonitions

A photograph showing two tugs moored alongside the Townsend-Thoresen ferry 'Herald of Free Enterprise' which capsized on the 6th March 1987

Zeebrugge ferry disaster: An entirely avoidable catastrophe
The wreckage of two catwalks scattered through the lobby of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel on Sunday 19th July 1981, after a collapse two days earlier

Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: America's most devastating engineering disaster
Salvage efforts continue at the Francis Scott Key Bridge following its collapse

8 of the worst bridge collapses in history
Grigori Rasputin

8 craziest bits of history
Sinking of the Titanic Illustration

6 premonitions of disasters that came true
An aggressive hippo charging

History's most unfortunate and bizarre deaths
Dilapidated building near Chernobyl with a nuclear warning sign

5 worst nuclear disasters from around the world
Abandoned site of the Bhopal Disaster

The Bhopal Disaster: Thousands killed during the world's worst industrial tragedy
Above: Police near the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 in the town of Lockerbie, Scotland

The Lockerbie Bombing: 35 years on

British 18-pounder field gun battery near Boesinghe

3 chaotic historical events that took place in July 
The bow of the wrecked Titanic

The most outrageous schemes to raise the Titanic
Little Italy in the 19th century and extreme drought in the Entrepenas reservoir

4 deadly heatwaves from history
Rendering of a volcanic eruption

The most devastating and deadly natural disasters from ancient history
The Great Pyramids

Curse of the Ancients with Alice Roberts: Episode Guide
A painting of the Great Fire of London

9 little known facts about the Great Fire of London
A large passenger ferry on the Baltic Sea

852 die as the Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea