The Worst Years to Be Alive in History (Ranked)

What was the worst year to be alive in history? Tim lives through five of the worst years in human history, from the Year Without a Summer to the Black Death, and ranks them with a (completely scientific) Misery Meter. The winner is 536 AD, the year the sun went dark. In this animated history countdown: 🌨 1816, the Year Without a Summer: Mount Tambora's eruption brings snow in June, failed harvests and Frankenstein 🌋 1783, the Laki eruption: a volcanic haze poisons Iceland's sheep and drifts across Europe 😷 1918, the flu pandemic: 500 million infected right after World War I, and why the "Spanish flu" wasn't Spanish 🐀 1348, the Black Death: the plague that killed a quarter to half of Europe 🌑 536 AD: a mysterious fog dims the sun for 18 months, the coldest decade in 2,000 years, then the Plague of Justinian Which year would you have survived? Tell Tim in the comments. ⏱ Chapters 0:00 Intro: what was the worst year in history? 0:47 #5 · 1816: The Year Without a Summer 2:10 #4 · 1783: Laki eruption and the Mist Hardships 3:21 #3 · 1918: The flu pandemic after World War I 4:21 Myth break: why the Spanish flu wasn't Spanish 5:06 #2 · 1348: The Black Death 6:15 #1 · 536 AD: The year the sun went dark 8:00 Which year would you survive? 📺 More from Terrible Timing The Richest People in History (And How They Actually Got Rich) What Stealing Bread Got You in Every Century The Worst Jobs in Human History 📚 Sources Year Without a Summer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Wi... Laki eruption: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki 1918 flu pandemic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish... Spanish flu and wartime censorship (HISTORY): https://www.history.com/articles/1918... Black Death: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_D... Why 536 was "the worst year to be alive" (Science): https://www.science.org/content/artic... Volcanic winter of 536: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcani... Plague of Justinian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_... All animation, music and sound effects are original to Terrible Timing. Map outlines: Natural Earth (public domain). Narration is AI-generated. #history #worstyear #animatedhistory