You think 2018 is the worst year ever? Try the real dark age: 536 | Kate Williams

The world may feel like it’s in a terrible state now, but it doesn’t compare to the year the sun stopped shining

It may seem amid the maelstom that is 2018 that it’s a pretty bad time to be alive. There’s the terrible and accelerating effect of climate change, the rise of fascist and “alt-right” politics, violent conflict, millions of stateless refugees, a looming Brexit crisis and political turmoil in many other directions. But there have been many other awful moments in history – the Black Death; the first world war; famines in China, Russia, India and across the world; the year of the Spanish influenza epidemic; the period after the Nazi party came to power; the blitz.

Related: Weatherwatch: the real darkness that blighted the dark ages

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2r2KHKY
via
0 Comments