Recommended Free Tools
There is no authoritative list of the five best and five worst years in human history. The answer changes with the people and places counted, and with whether “best” means a landmark breakthrough or broadly shared improvements in safety and living conditions. A useful comparison looks at the scale and duration of harm or progress, who experienced it, and what lasted beyond the year itself.
The years below are defensible examples, not a settled top ten. The worst-year candidates are assessed for broad historical harm; the best-year candidates are years associated with major breakthroughs, not claims that life improved for everyone.
What makes a year the best or worst in history?
A single calendar year can contain events whose consequences stretch across decades. Some disasters also unfold over several years, making it misleading to assign all their effects to one date. Historian nominations reflect those choices: a year might be considered worst for Americans, for humanity, or for the planet, and those are different questions. Slate’s discussion of the debate makes that ambiguity explicit (Slate, 2016).
For the examples below, “worst” refers to years associated with severe, widespread human suffering or disruption. “Best” refers to years linked to consequential political, social, or technological breakthroughs. Neither label means every population had the same experience. The candidates are not scored against one another: the available figures and historical evidence do not provide a consistent basis for a definitive ranking.
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallCrashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minute#1 Best Overall
Five strong candidates for the worst years
These years stand out for different kinds of harm, from environmental disruption to pandemic disease, famine, and war. Some events span multiple years; the dates identify pivotal periods rather than neatly bounded catastrophes.
536 CE: dimmed sunlight and disrupted harvests
A volcanic eruption has been linked to a period of dimmed sunlight and harvest disruption. The University of Melbourne describes delayed or failed harvests in several regions, while noting uncertainty about the longer-term effects. Harvard’s Initiative for the Science of the Human Past also identifies 536 as a candidate for one of history’s worst years (Harvard Initiative for the Science of the Human Past; University of Melbourne).
The account is striking, but the evidence does not establish that every region experienced the same conditions or that one year alone explains the hardships that followed. It is a strong candidate because environmental disruption can affect food supplies across multiple communities, not because its consequences can be reduced to one global measure.
1347–1348: the Black Death reaches Europe
The Black Death spread through Europe and beyond in a pandemic that extended well past these two years. University of Melbourne historian Catherine Kovesi identifies 1347/8 as a contender and reports estimates of 25–50 million deaths in the first 18 months. That is a wide estimate from a secondary account, not a figure that can be directly compared with mortality estimates for other years. The disease’s cause is also debated in the account (University of Melbourne).
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteHistorian Peter Frankopan’s assessment, quoted by Slate, conveys the scale of the catastrophe: “That, I think, is what hell on Earth really looks like—and I’d rather be alive in 2016 than 1348” (Slate, 2016). The pandemic’s reach and mortality make this one of the strongest candidates, even though it cannot be isolated to a single calendar year.
1816: the “year without a summer”
After Mount Tambora erupted in 1815, 1816 became known as the “year without a summer.” Sky HISTORY describes crop failures and food hardship associated with the unusual conditions (Sky HISTORY). The documented case here rests on those broad effects; the available source does not establish a reliable death toll or a comparable global temperature figure.
Rank #3
1918: pandemic disease amid the final year of World War I
In 1918, the final year of World War I overlapped with the influenza pandemic. That combination brought mass disruption at a moment when societies were already strained by war. Sky HISTORY notes the overlap and reports a very large infection and death toll, but those figures are secondary estimates and are not used here as a precise or cross-year comparison (Sky HISTORY).
1943: the Holocaust, famine, and wartime violence
In 1943, the Holocaust and the Bengal famine unfolded amid escalating wartime violence. Slate reports that more than 1.3 million Jews had been deported and killed by spring that year, and cites an estimate of three million famine deaths. These are estimates reported by the secondary article, not a shared measure of all deaths or harms in 1943 (Slate, 2016; Sky HISTORY).
1943 illustrates why choosing a “worst year” is not just a matter of adding figures. The events affected different populations and regions, and the consequences of the war continued beyond that year.
Five candidates for the best years—and what the label leaves out
A 2026 AOL article offers a positive-years ranking that includes 1994, 1967, 1955, 1989, 1945, and 1969, drawing on events such as South Africa’s first fully inclusive national election, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of World War II, and Apollo 11 (AOL, 2026). It is one publisher’s list, not a scholarly consensus or a global measure of quality of life. The five years below are selected from its candidates as examples of different kinds of progress, not as an ordered ranking.
1945: World War II ends
The end of World War II makes 1945 an obvious candidate for a “best” year when the criterion is the ending of a global conflict. But the year also followed immense destruction and brought displacement and upheaval. Its significance as a turning point does not mean the costs disappeared or that all communities experienced peace and recovery at once.
1955: a landmark year in the U.S. civil rights movement
The AOL ranking includes 1955 among its positive-year candidates. That makes it a possible choice for a list built around historical turning points, but the cited account does not establish a comprehensive measure of how much life improved across populations that year. A symbolic or political milestone should not be mistaken for equal gains in safety, rights, or opportunity.
1967: another positive-year candidate, with uneven effects
1967 also appears in AOL’s list, but the article does not provide a single global measure showing that it was one of the best years to be alive. It is best treated as a candidate whose meaning depends on the events and communities being considered, rather than as proof of a universal improvement.
1989: the Berlin Wall falls
The fall of the Berlin Wall made 1989 a defining year in the political transformation of Europe. The event gives the year strong symbolic weight, but one landmark does not show that living conditions improved equally or immediately for everyone affected by the wider changes.
1994: South Africa holds its first fully inclusive national election
South Africa’s first fully inclusive national election is a major reason 1994 appears on the positive-years list. The transition was historic, but AOL’s account also acknowledges that progress was uneven; persistent inequality and violence complicate any claim that one election made the year “best” for everyone (AOL, 2026).
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why 2020—or any single year—cannot be named the worst for everyone
“Was 2020 the worst year ever?” is a question that captures how a recent crisis can dominate personal experience. But a universal answer requires an agreed population and criteria. A year that is catastrophic for one country or community may not rank the same way when measured against mass mortality, famine, war, or environmental disruption across centuries. The same caution applies to “What was the worst year in history?”: without specifying whose history and what kind of harm, there is no settled answer.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →How to compare the candidates fairly
A more useful ranking would state its scope and evaluate each year against the same questions:
- Scale and geography: How many people or regions were affected, and how widely did the consequences spread?
- Duration: Was the event concentrated in one year, or did the crisis begin earlier and continue afterward?
- Evidence: Are mortality or material-disruption estimates supported by sources that can be compared on consistent terms?
- Distribution: Which groups bore the costs, and who benefited from any breakthrough?
- Legacy: Did the event lead to lasting political, social, or environmental consequences?
These questions help explain why a list can be historically interesting without being definitive. A year associated with a dramatic milestone is not automatically good for everyone, just as a year linked to a disaster does not capture every experience within it.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
