Black Death

In case you thing the Black Death (bubonic and pneumonic plague) only occurred in Europe in the Middle Ages, think again. A wildlife biologist died of the disease near the Grand Canyon on November 2. He likely got the disease from the carcass of a mountain lion.

Pneumonic and bubonic plague are two forms of the disease. In medieval Europe, the disease was called the Black Death because of the black boils it left on the skin of its victims. The Black Death killed an estimated 30 percent of the population. It was the worst natural disaster in European history.