There are plenteous instances in the world’s history when the battle or more precisely single-day-combats between two warring-sides consumed more number of men than many of the battles across the world combined together in different eras. This showcases the intensity of bloodshed that was part of these fierce battles. It can be imagined straightforwardly about the number of fatalities, had these tactical strikes lasted more than a single-day. For that reason, these battles easily go beyond the normal expectations of war in their scale of mass destruction and collateral loss. Here we attempt to produce a list of seizes, civilian causalities during the battles or strategic strikes that just lasted a single-day. Listed below are 8 bloodiest days in the history of world:
8. Cannae (216 BC):
Nothing less than 50,000 Romans lost their lives and an indefinite number faced serious fatalities at the hands of Hannibal’s multi-national army. Till date, there is no match to this bloody battle between two sides; all of it happened on a single day. The battle had such long lasting consequences for the Romans that they didn’t dare to face Hannibal and his army for the next 12 years.
7. America’s epic 12 hour long battle:
Almost forgotten and rarely mentioned in the world’s history books, almost 23,000 Americans were killed and around 15,000 were injured in a single day on the US soil, 150 years ago. It can easily be counted as the bloodiest day in the history of the United States of America till date. It was on 17th September 1862 that a civil war involving Yankees and southern Rebels fought a war for continuous 12-hours next to Antietam Creek resulting in mass casualties from both sides. The place is still remembered by the name of “Bloody Lane” and the memories of intense bloodshed haunt elderly Americans still.
6. Stamford Bridge (1066):
Going by the records of the battle of Stamford Bridge of 25th September, 1066, no other battle can be as brutal as this one for the sheer disregard for human life by King Harold’s army. Harold’s troops surprised Norse Viking’s invasion army near York and slaughtered almost entire troop in matter of few hours. It is recorded that only 24 out of total 300 longboats from the Viking army sailed back home.
5. Borodino-one day conflict:
Fought on 7th September, 1812, the Battle of Borodino was the largest and bloodiest single day action of the French invasion of Russia and the Napoleonic wars. It involved more than 250,000 troops and lead to 70,000 causalities. The war was fought near the village of Borodino. Almost one-third of soldiers from Napoleon’s army were killed or injured in the day long battle.
4. Denmark-Sweden war of 1676:
4th December, 1676 can be termed as the deadliest single day in the Denmark-Sweden history. It was the early morning of the day when 8000 Swedes ambushed approximately 13,000 Danes in a battle that continued all day long. The following day, about 9,500 corpses were recovered from the field outside Lund, Sweden.
3. The battle of Towton:
The battle of Towton was fought on 29th March, 1461 near village named Towton in Yorkshire. Till date, it is regarded as the bloodiest single day battle on English soil. Around 50,000 soldiers fought amidst a snowstorm on the day which resulted in killing of roughly 28,000 by the end of the day. The battle is also considered to be historical for it brought about a sea change in the monarchial leadership in England.
2. The first day of the Battle of Somme:
The first day of the Somme Offensive on 1st July, 1916 is by far one of the five major battles that consumed a sizable amount of human lives on a single day. The bloodiest single day of battle lead to British Expeditionary Force (BEF) losing around 20,000 men. Although, number of men dead in German camp was not clear, 10,000 is the estimate for the casualties still.
1. Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
It was the Monday morning of 6th August, 1945 at around 8:15 when the American airplanes dropped atom bombs on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It resulted in killing of around 120 to 140 thousand innocent people. The bloodshed was far pronounced and deadly that recorded more human lives than anywhere else in the world.