Research
Plague Atlas
Mapping history through epidemics
An interactive atlas of major pandemics and plagues throughout human history — from the Antonine Plague to modern outbreaks.
Plague Atlas is an interactive timeline and map of the major pandemics and plagues in human history, from the Antonine Plague of the 2nd century to modern outbreaks.
Each entry summarises the disease, its estimated death toll, the dates it spanned and its geographic spread.
It is built as a free historical reference for general audiences, not a medical resource.
Key pages
- Bubonic plague
Bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is named after the swollen lymph nodes, or buboes, it produces.
- Cholera
Cholera spreads through water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae, which is why its pandemics track the history of urban sanitation.
- Black Death
The Black Death of 1346–1353 killed an estimated 25 to 50 million people, with scholarly estimates putting the loss at roughly 30 to 60 per cent of Europe’s population.
