may 11, 1845 - Irish Potato Famine (1845-49)

Description:

For two consecutive years, the Irish Potato crop failed due to an airborne fungus. The crop itself stopped failing in 1847, however, the effects of the previous two years were felt for many years to come. The death toll cause directly by the famine petered out by the late 40’s, pproximately 1 million people died. The main reason that so much was lost was because the English thought that the Irish needed to find a way to recover themselves, for fear that if the English helped they would create a dependant Irish population.