Top 10 Worst Events in World History

We cannot ignore this. The Holocaust was Hitler's plan to eliminate the Jewish and Communist peoples when they hadn't done anything wrong to him or his nation. This, sadly, resulted in the deaths of 17 million people.

This is definitely one of the worst events in history, along with 9/11, both World Wars, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I hate that we (the U.S.) bombed Japan. I know they bombed Hawaii, but we murdered many innocent people! There was a video that I watched with my family about what Japan looked like the day of the bombing right before the bombing in both cities. In both cities, children and their mothers were sitting, laughing, chatting, and doing schoolwork, and then boom! Boom! -- everything dissolved in smoke. Everything blew up. I was so sad and angry at President Truman for commanding us to do that and at us for obeying him.

I know we were furious, and I also know that Japan shouldn't have bombed us (I am not pointing fingers at Japan, by the way, I am madder at the U.S. than Japan). But that doesn't warrant us bombing two cities that did nothing to us. Just because Japan bombed us doesn't mean every single person who is Japanese is bad. People can do bad things and good things, but that doesn't make the person good or bad. All of us have done good and bad things to each other and to ourselves. Peace is not the only way to work things out because sometimes fighting does help, but fighting also brings great devastation upon those who are involved and also those who aren't.

I am sorry, a U.S. citizen

This pointlessly stupid conflict killed millions of people for no reason other than racism. Unlike the First World War, which ended making more sense, World War II ruined the world's borders, especially in Europe. Historical lands were taken away and cleansed because of a pointless war.

People should study history and understand that the Holocaust mostly took place during this war. Six million people died in the Holocaust. Fifty to eighty-five million were killed during the whole war. It changed the world forever. The cost was far too great.

By killing one-third of Europe, it put an end to feudalism (the system used in the Middle Ages where poor farmers worked for lords and knights) and led to the Renaissance, with the greatest scientific discoveries and exploration since the Roman Empire.

This isn't number one, but it should be number two. This was a horrible disease with over half of the population in Europe dying. For God's sake, humanity almost went extinct because of this. This must be higher.

The Black Death had a higher death toll (75-200 million) than any other event on this list. The only reason the Holocaust got number one is the disproportionately high amount of media attention it receives.

I can't even fathom how Japanese people were able to commit such an atrocity, considering they are known for being polite and having a cute culture. Maybe that's what led to them being the way they are now.

If Japan thinks it's alright to deny the Nanjing Massacre, then I'm denying the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japanese school children are not taught about this atrocity. They are not taught about any other atrocity they committed during World War II either.

World War I was such a sad time in history, and many people died. I wish there was no violence in the world. World War III is already starting.

Was awful, purely awful, but cannot be placed too high on the list as the slave trade was orchestrated by native Africans. However, one of the worst events in history was the way slaves were treated, an informal genocide for over 200 years.

Terrorist attacks and shootings, as terrible as they are, don't compare to hundreds of years of forced labor and the suffering of thousands of African people.

That should have never happened and I hate falling asleep at night knowing that people did that to other people.

I think its recency is of utmost importance. In the 21st century, to some extent, people felt shielded from the horrors of earlier centuries. Yet, 9/11 tragically reminded society of the harsh and unrelenting nature of evil that pervades all of history.

In my opinion, this has to be the saddest, most tragic event in world history. My family knew Leroy Homer Jr. (Flight 93). He was a long-time friend of both my aunts. I was 5 years old at the time and still remember briefly watching my parents' faces in horror and tears, knowing my aunt worked across from the WTC and could possibly be hurt or even killed.

I was a bit young, so I didn't know how to react other than crying, but all I remember was watching the TV, and it all seeming like a movie except it was real. I don't know how evil a person or people could be to do such a thing as to attack a building in which people go to work innocently, not knowing what could happen. Those who were on all four planes, knowing as it was hijacked, will be the last few minutes of their lives.

I don't live in the US, but I can imagine all of the people seeing smoke and fire arising from the two buildings and the ash and papers flying from the sky above. Watching clips online and seeing the blood and tears on every person running for their lives. Sigh. I'm not great at writing things, but I can only imagine how frightening it was for everyone.

Justice is somewhat served, seeing Bin Laden is killed, but ISIS is still active and out there, along with daily terrorism all over the world. I've visited the Memorial site for 9/11 twice and will be going back this year. My hearts go out to the victims living with the painful and disturbing memories of that tragic day, along with all the others who are now affected by it as well (cancer and other illnesses/diseases) and to those who lost their family. May all those innocent angels taken that day rest in sweet peace in heaven above. -Rin.

A forum for heinous war crimes in the name of religion was truly appalling. Murder of innocent women and children, and perhaps the worst was Richard I's beheading of 2000 prisoners of war at the Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade.

Religion is a scourge on this planet and absolutely does not deserve one iota of respect. A good many of the worst crimes in history were killings for religion. Where was your god during these times? Yeah, that's what I thought!

And a good reason to avoid labels and pledge blind, undying faith to specific organizations of man.

This should be somewhere at 1 or 2. This event killed a lot more Americans than 9/11 did and killed many others in other countries.

This is by far the worst event in world history. The Holocaust and the Black Death were nothing compared to this.

I thought this would be in the top 10 by now.

I added this because of the horrible effects it had.

Are you kidding me? The Great Leap Forward at 14? Nobody knows about this, and that's just shameful. 56 million people died!

The deadliest natural event in the history of mankind. More people died in this event than in anything else.

Very sad and inhumane deed. It was implemented primarily through the mass murder of around one million Armenians during death marches to the Syrian Desert and the forced Islamization of others, primarily women and children. This genocide put an end to more than two thousand years of Armenian civilization in eastern Anatolia.

Together with the mass murder and expulsion of Assyrian/Syriac and Greek Orthodox Christians, it enabled the creation of an ethnonationalist Turkish state, the Republic of Turkey.

The thing that frightens me the most about this is the fact it happened so recently, in 1994. It killed so many different peoples and tribes that now, Rwanda is striving towards being a single culture. It really was a terrible genocide.

Should be at least in the top 5. 800,000 people died needlessly. The UN offered little to no help!

Some Dallas police officers even quit their jobs after this event.

By Dallas shooting, do you mean the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers? Yes, that was tragic.

Now cops have to face people who fought in the war. Wow, major respect.

The principal idea of communism itself is not bad. It represents absolute equality at its core. The issue arises because people always crave power, and eventually, they succeed, abandoning their ideals and ideology.

This is beautifully depicted in "Animal Farm." Initially, the principle is that everyone is equal, until the phrase "but some are more equal" is introduced.

There are two main reasons why communism fails to be implemented successfully: leaders stop caring about the population and seek to gain more control and power. Furthermore, communist countries often view other countries and systems negatively. It is crucial to remain open to other nations for the sake of your own economy and to avoid controlling the population. Otherwise, your foundational ideals are lost, leading to outcomes as disastrous as those seen in every communist country. For instance, East Germany had better gender equality and acceptance of homosexuals than West Germany, and people had only a moderate income but weren't destitute. Yet, what value does that hold when you live in fear that your neighbors might spy on every move you make and can destroy everything you've built with just a word to the wrong person?

"The Lives of Others" provides a chillingly accurate depiction of surveillance in East Germany, though the main character is portrayed with more integrity than actual Stasi officers.

While watching Billy Wilder's "One, Two, Three," I realized that half of Buchholz's character's lines were dangerously propagandistic, but every third line was intelligent and well-considered. This is my overall assessment of communism: the basic and principal idea is sound, but its implementation is horrifying and often violent.

It all started with this. The most brutal thing is how they were kids.

Over 65 MILLION civilians killed 1966-1976, nearly the worldwide total of World War 2.