Irish Potato Blight
September 1, 1845
A water mold blown in on the Atlantic wind rotted the Irish potato crop in the fields. By winter, whole parishes were eating seaweed. Over the next seven years a million would die of famine and fever and another million would emigrate. The English cabinet, committed to free trade, did too little. Ireland never forgave.
In context
Also in 1845 (3 other events on record)
- Texas Annexed · North America · Politics
- Anglo-Sikh War Begins · South Asia · War
- Franklin Expedition Vanishes · North America · Exploration
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Disaster
- Before: May 10, 1837: Panic of 1837
- After: 1858: Great Stink of London
Era
Industrial Age (1801–1900), one of 513 events from that era on Saeculum.