When the Black Death began to spread across Europe and parts of Asia, the search for cures and treatments became desperate. After multiple bouts of plague across decades by 1656, plague doctors became notorious for their foreboding wardrobe. They often wore long leather suits, glasses, a pointed mask that looked like that of a birds’ head or beak, and finally, a long pointed cane or stick was held to keep the infected at “safe” a distance (Link 1).
These physicians were responsible for visiting, often quarantined, households and towns to offer, what we know now as, useless treatments. If the risk of contracting the plague in a variety of sickness-riddled areas wasn’t enough, they also often handled leeches, human urine, and …show more content…
It would be placed along critical points besides barriers or infrastructure to allow access to fortified areas by imposing armies (Link 4). In order to place this unpredictable explosive, one would utilize a petardier’s assistant, as the petard maker would be too valuable to lose. There were a number of dangerous variables to challenge this assistant. Frequently, they had to pass through the enemy's fire to place the petard, just to simply get it set up. If they survived that ordeal, they would then need to successfully light the unstable explosive while not getting themselves blown up, and make it back to safety (Link 5).
4. Miner
Historically, mining is one of the most dangerous jobs in history to this day. Exposure to toxic substances released during the mining process puts those nearby at risk for a variety of cancers and other illnesses (Link 6). The results of possible deadly accidents included being crushed, suffocated, or poisoned.
In Benxi, Liaoning, China, 1,549 Chinese miners lost their lives. The Honkeiko Colliery was known for its poor conditions. Miners were poorly dressed, hardly fed, and were exposed to an array of deadly diseases, such as typhoid and Cholera. It wasn’t disease that killed over a thousand and a half people, though, but a gas explosion on April 26, 1942, that left most victims unrecognizable. Unfortunately, this type of accident is not a moment that stands on its own; history is filled with devastating mining accidents (Link 7).
5. Powder