World History Moment: The Black Death Strikes

In this Wednesday, March 26, 2014 photo, one of the skeletons found by construction workers under central London’s Charterhouse Square is pictured. Twenty-five skeletons were uncovered last year during work on Crossrail, a new rail line that’s boring 13 miles (21 kilometers) of tunnels under the heart of the city. Archaeologists immediately suspected the bones came from a cemetery for victims of the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century. The Black Death, as the plague was called, is thought to have killed at least 75 million people, including more than half of Britain’s population.
A skeleton found by construction workers under central London's Charterhouse Square, right at the heart of the city. Archaeologists immediately suspected the bones came from a cemetery for victims of the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century. The Black Death, as the plague was called, is thought to have killed at least 75 million people, including more than half of Britain's population. Lefteris Pitarakis / AP Photo
In this Wednesday, March 26, 2014 photo, one of the skeletons found by construction workers under central London’s Charterhouse Square is pictured. Twenty-five skeletons were uncovered last year during work on Crossrail, a new rail line that’s boring 13 miles (21 kilometers) of tunnels under the heart of the city. Archaeologists immediately suspected the bones came from a cemetery for victims of the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century. The Black Death, as the plague was called, is thought to have killed at least 75 million people, including more than half of Britain’s population.
A skeleton found by construction workers under central London's Charterhouse Square, right at the heart of the city. Archaeologists immediately suspected the bones came from a cemetery for victims of the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century. The Black Death, as the plague was called, is thought to have killed at least 75 million people, including more than half of Britain's population. Lefteris Pitarakis / AP Photo

World History Moment: The Black Death Strikes

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Audio available later today.

The Black Death was the deadliest health crisis in human history, but because it happened nearly 700 years ago, most of our knowledge about it is speculative. 

Nobody knows how many people were killed worldwide, but some historians say that in Europe, the Black Death killed two out of every three people. Historian John Schmidt recalls what happened.