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Big History History

The Spread and Symptoms of The Black Death

The bubonic plague- later known as the black death- was considered to be one of the most fatal pandemics that ever affected mankind. It spread throughout the mid-1300s and resulted in the deaths of 75-200 million people in Eurasia and North Africa. 

Firstly, trading ships played a large role in the spread of the plague in Europe. But, before these “death ships” pulled onto the port at Messina in Italy, many Europeans had already heard of the dreaded bubonic plague. This was due to the fact that in the early 1340s, the disease was already spreading through China, India, Persia, Syria, and Egypt. It is said that the plague originated in Asia over 2000 years ago and spread to Europe through trading ships, later referred to as “death ships.” However, recent research suggests that the pathogen responsible for the Black Death may have existed in Europe as early as 3000 BC. The Black Death was caused by an infection of the bacterium Yersinia pestis which was transmitted from rodents to humans through the bite of infected fleas. The plague spread through Asia and entered Europe through the rats present on the Genoese trading ships, which sailed from the Black Sea to Italy. 

Citizens present at the docks of Messina were met with a horrifying surprise. The majority of the sailors aboard the ship were dead and those who were still surviving were extremely ill with their bodies covered in black boils that ooze blood and pus. The bubonic plague came to be known as the Black Death due to the very reason that it could turn the skin and sores black. The Italian poet, Giovanni Boccaccio wrote, “at the beginning of the malady, certain swellings, either on the groin or under the armpits…waxed to the bigness of a common apple, others to the size of an egg, some more and some less, and these the vulgar named plague-boils.” These boils were one of the many symptoms of the horrifying plague. Other symptoms included acute fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, aches, and pains which ultimately led to death. 

After seeing the sailors in such a terrifying state, the Sicilian authorities ordered the fleet of the “death ships” out of the harbor; however, it was too late. Over the next five years, the Black Death would kill more than 20 million people in Europe – sending the continent back by 150 years.

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Big History Characters History Adventures News

Our official launch trailer!

History Adventures, World of Characters, Book 3, (1750-1900).

A fresh approach to history education, designed for today’s digital generation.

This interactive, multimodal learning experience combines the latest in mobile entertainment with the power of narrative design—bringing the pages of history to life.

History Adventures foregrounds the power of story, narrativizing the experiences of people who lived in past centuries—in different epochs and locations around the globe. Students will witness the very real moments these very real people lived through, as if they were there. And via the empathy inspired by quality storytelling, students will feel the life or death stakes of decisions made in the moment.

The January 2020 release of History Adventures covers the Period from 1750-1900 through the lens of 5 amazing people living through complex flash-points in time.

Book 3 Features

  1. Agent 355, (a slave… and an American Revolutionary War spy)
  2. Jiemba, (an indigenous Australian at Botany Bay when the British convict ships arrived)
  3. Fei Hong, (a Chinese family man, surviving the Opium Wars)
  4. Khari, (a native rebel resisting Belgian oppression during the (so-called) Congo Free State)
  5. Thomas Brown, (a muckraking reporter, working to expose the malpractice of the Chicago Meatpacking Industry).

History Adventures, World of Characters, Book 3 (1750-1900), will go live on iTunes, January of 2020, available for download around the world!

History Adventures: The Stories of People in Time, Connected by Eternity..

Created by Spencer Striker, PhD

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Characters History Adventures Narrative Excerpts Spencer Striker PhD

Introducing: Agent 355, American Revolutionary War Spy

United States of America, 1778 CE

“I am not a soldier. I will never wield a musket nor face cannon fire. My place is not upon the battlements nor cutting across a battlefield. I am a spy. Intent upon serving my young nation. As it tears itself away from its infuriated progenitor, Great Britain, I take pride in helping save it from itself. And who better to sneak throughout the halls, eavesdropping conversations as I fill bathtubs and stoke hearths for the chilly evenings? We have a traitor in our midst. An officer by the name of Arnold…”

— Excerpted from History Adventures, World of Characters, Book 3, 1750–1900, created by Spencer Striker, PhD

..coming to iTunes, January 2020..

The future of the book is now.

History Adventures — a next gen digital book experience being developed by an international team of animators, artists, designers, and historians — represents an enhanced, multimodal learning design for 21st Century students.

This media-rich learning experience combines the latest in mobile entertainment — and the power of narrative design — with a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching history: awakening student fascination for the past…bringing the pages of history to life.

The narrative structure will be like zooming in through portals in time, to observe — and feel the drama and excitement — of little slices of lived human experience.

And from these stories, we will extract curricular concepts relevant to a bigger picture understanding of history and its fascinatingly interwoven, cross-disciplinary themes.

History Adventures: the Stories of People in Time, Connected by Eternity..

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Characters History Adventures Narrative Excerpts

Luis Felipe Gutierrez, Spanish Conquistador, the New World (Modern Day, Peru), 1537 CE

“He was strolling through the jungle; he had to reach the other side of the mountains. Luis knew that he faced a long journey to reach the last outpost of the Spanish Empire – at the edge of civilization, where the map fell off into legend. It was the Anno Domini 1537, and Luis Felipe Guiterrez had arrived in the New World the year before, sent by his majesty Charles V to help his fellow countrymen complete the conquest of the land we now call Peru. The world he encountered now was nothing like he’d expected..”

– Excerpted from History Adventures, World of Characters
..coming to iTunes, January 2020

The future of the book is now.

Drawing inspiration from Robert Garland’s The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World (2010): History Adventures conjures snapshots of compellingly real historical scenarios. The characters will not be world famous, like Alexander, Cleopatra, or Napoleon. Rather, they will be relatable, normal people – living in extraordinary circumstances.

The narrative structure will be like zooming in through portals in time, to observe – and feel the drama and excitement – of little slices of lived human experience.And from these stories, we will extract curricular concepts relevant to a bigger picture understanding of history and its fascinatingly interwoven, cross-disciplinary themes.

History Adventures: the Stories of People in Time, Connected by Eternity..

coming to itunes, January 2020