Famines
From My Research Wiki
This incomplete list of famines shows when and approximately where our ancestors were challenged by food shortages caused by war, epidemics, shifts in weather, and other conditions over which they had little or no control. The frightening part of this list is that there are so many.
| Period | Location | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 927 | Byzantine Empire | |
| 1005 | England | |
| 1016 | Europe | |
| 1022 | India | |
| 1033 | India | |
| 1064-1072 | Egypt | |
| 1051 | Mexico (Toltecs) | |
| 1066 | England | |
| 1199-1202 | Egypt | |
| 1230 | Novgorod | |
| 1231-1232 | Japan | |
| 1235 | England | |
| 1255 | Portugal | |
| 1258 | Germany | |
| 1258 | Italy | |
| 1275-1299 | Ancient Pueblos (Anasazi) | |
| 1294 | England | |
| 1304 | France | |
| 1305 | France | |
| 1310 | France | |
| 1315-1317 | Northern Europe | The Great Famine of 1315-1317 saw widespread crop failures that led to the deaths of millions, an increase in crime, and disease. |
| 1321 | England | |
| 1330-1334 | France | |
| 1333 | Portugal | |
| 1333-1334 | Spain | |
| 1333-1337 | China | |
| 1344-1345 | India | |
| 1349-1351 | France | |
| 1350 | Northern Hemisphere | Medieval Warm Period ends. Generally agreed period when the warm period from the 10th to 14th centuries was officially over. Weather conditions cause widespread crop failures where grains, which grow above ground, are grown. |
| 1351 | England | |
| 1358-1361 | France | |
| 1369 | England | |
| 1371 | France | |
| 1374 | France | |
| 1375 | France | |
| 1387 | Asia Minor | |
| 1390 | England | |
| 1390 | France | |
| 1397-1407 | India | |
| 1403 | Egypt | |
| 1441 | Mexico | |
| 1445 | Korea | |
| 1450-1454 | Mexico (Aztec) | |
| 1460-1461 | Japan | |
| 1504 | Spain | |
| 1518 | Venice | |
| 1528 | France (Languedoc) | |
| 1535 | Ethiopia | |
| 1540 | Spain | |
| 1550 | Northern Hemisphere | Little Ice Age begins. Generally agreed period when the cooling trend was in full swing. |
| 1555 | England | |
| 1567-1570 | Ethiopia | |
| 1574-1576 | Istanbul, Anatolia | |
| 1586 | England | Resulted in the Poor Law system |
| 1590s | Europe | 'Several' famines |
| 1599-1600 | Spain | |
| 1601-1603 | Russia | As many as 100,000 dead in Moscow |
| 1601-1603 | Estonia | Nearly half the population died |
| 1611 | Anatolia | |
| 1618-1648 | Europe | Several famines in various parts of Europe cased by the Thirty Years' War |
| 1619 | Japan | |
| 1623-1624 | England | |
| 1630-1631 | India | |
| 1636 | Spain | |
| 1644 | Northwest China | Ming dynasty falls. Several famines in preceding years contributed. |
| 1648-1660 | Poland | Approximately 1/3 of the population lost due to war, famine, and plague |
| 1649 | Northern England | |
| 1650-1652 | Eastern France | |
| 1651-1653 | Ireland | Much of this famine caused by Cromwell's conquest of Ireland |
| 1661 | India | No rain reported for 2 years |
| 1661-1662 | Morocco | |
| 1661-1662 | France | |
| 1669 | Bengal | |
| 1680 | Sardinia | |
| 1680 | Japan | |
| 1680s | Africa (Sahel) | Sahel is a band across sub-Saharan Africa |
| 1690s | Scotland | |
| 1693-1694 | France | |
| 1695-1697 | Estonia | |
| 1695-1697 | Sweden | |
| 1696-1697 | Finland | |
| 1702-1704 | India | Nearly 2 million dead |
| 1706-1707 | France | |
| 1708-1711 | East Prussia | East Prussia during this time was about present-day Lithuania |
| 1709-1710 | France | |
| 1722 | Arabia | |
| 1727-1728 | England | |
| 1732 | Japan | |
| 1738-1739 | France | |
| 1738-1756 | West Africa | |
| 1740-1741 | Ireland | The Irish Famine (1740-1741) was caused by extreme cold and rainy weather that resulted in bad harvests. |
| 1741 | Norway | |
| 1750 | Spain | |
| 1764 | Naples | |
| 1769-1773 | Bengal | |
| 1770-1771 | Czech lands | |
| 1771-1772 | Saxony | Southern Germany today |
| 1773 | Sweden | |
| 1779 | Morocco (Rabat) | |
| 1780s | Japan | |
| 1783 | Iceland | |
| 1784 | Egypt | |
| 1784-1785 | Tunisia | |
| 1788 | France | Two years before the French Revolution |
| 1789 | Ethiopia | |
| 1789--1792 | India | |
| 1800-1801 | Ireland | |
| 1811-1812 | Spain (Madrid) | |
| 1816-1817 | Europe | Year without a summer due to eruption in 1815 on the Indonesian island of Tambora |
| 1830 | Cape Verde | |
| 1830s | Japan | |
| 1835 | Egypt | |
| 1840s | Europe | Sometimes called the hungry forties. Caused by the potato blight that affected Scotland and Ireland (see below). |
| 1845-1850 | Ireland | The Great Irish Famine resulted in death and emigration to North America, Australia, and any place that would take them. The population of Ireland was reduced by 20% to 25%. |
| 1846 | Portugal | |
| 1846-1857 | Scottish highlands | The Highland Potato Famine coincided with the Great Irish Famine, resulting in over 1.7 million Scots to leave. |
| 1850-1873 | China | Several famines |
| 1866 | India | |
| 1866-1868 | Finland | |
| 1869 | India | Well over 1 million died |
| 1870-1871 | Persia | Present-day Iran |
| 1873-1874 | Anatolia | |
| 1876-1878 | India | |
| 1876-1879 | China | |
| 1876-1879 | North Africa | |
| 1876-1879 | Brazil | |
| 1878-1880 | Alaska (St. Lawrence) | |
| 1879 | Ireland | The 1879 Irish Famine was the last famine in Ireland. |
| 1888 | Sudan | |
| 1888-1892 | Ethiopia | |
| 1891-1892 | Russia | |
| 1896-1897 | Northern China | |
| 1896-1902 | India | |
| 1907 | East-central China | |
| 1914-1918 | Lebanon | |
| 1914-1918 | Belgium | Related to World War I |
| 1916-1917 | Germany | Related to World War I |
| 1916-1917 | Russia | |
| 1917-1919 | Persia | Northern Iran |
| 1921 | Russia |
There are more modern famines but this is a genealogy site and these modern famines affect our ancestry less than they affect us.
