What's a devastating historical event that nobody talks about?

The Carrington event. In 1859, solar flares hit the earth, causing an aurora borealis effect

to be seen all over the world. It lasted for several days, during which time it was reportedly

bright enough to read by at midnight. Telegraph operators reported receiving shocks and burns from their

devices, and in some cases removed the batteries powering the telegraphs as signals were being

disrupted by the geomagnetic storm. After removing the batteries, the telegraphs still operated,

in some cases better than they had when powered. It wasn't particularly devastating at the time, but it's estimated

that if a similar storm would hit us today, it would cripple the entire planet for potentially

decades. The estimated repair cost in the US alone is measured in the trillions. In 2012, a similar

storm missed the Earth by nine days. I'm in college studying history. The year of living

dangerously in Indonesia in 1965 through 66 saw absolute chaos and still has a marked effect

on their society. It's possibly one of the largest mass killings of the last century and I heard

nothing about it ever living in the West.

It's hard to say how many people actually died, but estimates range from 100,000 to 300,000,

and even on up to 500,000, or a million dead.

Basically, the Communist Party in Indonesia was heavily influenced by Maoism and ethnic Chinese civilians.

It was the largest Communist Party outside of China. President Sukarno,

who had helped the country through Japanese occupation and independence from the Dutch and British,

had kept the House of Cards balanced, but was beginning to be swayed by communist policies. The military,

staunchly anti-communist and largely supported by the US, would be looking to take power. Then, one night,

six high-ranking members of the military were abducted and killed. The army spread the word that the communists were to blame and initiated mass reprisals. Killings, interrogations and imprisonment

ran rampant over the islands, and even ethnic Chinese or just suspected communists were taken.

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