The Black Death (aka the bubonic plague) first entered Europe in 1347 and was widespread across the continent by 1350. The disease was carried by infected fleas on the backs of rats onto various ships in Asia, which in turn entered European ports and then spread from person to person along nearly every one of Europe’s major trade routes. The greater the volume of human contact during any sort of connected economic transactions, the greater the transmission and the faster the spread of the disease. The spread of the Black Death was helped along by several other internal factors within the continent as well – frequent crop failures had been devastating the region for a few years. These failures, in turn, caused widespread malnutrition, hunger, and famine among much of Europe’s population, especially in the cities – which were also hotspots of trade, further compounding the dire situation. Prior to the plague’s arrival, Europe had also been struggling with a chronic over-population dilemma, which put further strains upon the already diminished food supply and the overall state of ill-health. Taken together, these factors coalesced to create the perfect conditions for the horrifically rapid spread of the Black Death throughout Europe.

In the 1330s an outbreak of Bubonic plague began in China. By the mid-fourteenth century it had spread throughout Eurasia, leading to widespread sickness and death. The Black Death, as it came to be called in Europe, led to the death of perhaps as many as one hundred million people and caused the population of Europe to decline by one-third.

When the Europeans arrived in the Americas in the late fifteenth century the differences between civilization in South America and North America could be summarized as follows - South America contained more multinational empires and tended to be based on extensive agricultural systems and permanent settlements; whereas North America contained much smaller and more homogeneous communities who were more likely to live a nomadic, hunter-gatherer type lifestyle. Of course this distinction is not uniform and has many notable exceptions.

To begin with an "epidemic" is a widespread infectious disease. Throughout human history epidemics have had a diverse impact on human society. They have destabilized governments, encourage revolutions, spurred socioeconomic change, limited and encouraged the exchange of ideas, led to a decline in trade, and had many other unexpected consequences.

The Mississippian civilization arose in pre-Columbian America around 700 CE. The people of the Mississippian civilization built earthen mounds for religious and ceremonial purposes. Their largest city was called Cahokia. They declined, however, more than two centuries before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas.

Although it is true that the Mississippian civilization declined in the thirteenth century, we cannot say for sure that it was a result of prolonged famine and drought. No-one knows exactly why the Mississippian civilization declined, but it is certain that it did so long before the arrival of Europeans in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Fossil fuel usage in contemporary society is harmful to the environment.

Burning hundreds of millions of years worth of carbon material isn't beneficial to the environment, although it may be to the economy.

Although ancient societies had their own fuel sources, they all pale in comparison to the modern fossil fuel industry, its global supply chain, and the ways in which it facilitates modern life.

Fossil fuel usage is not specific to economic niches. Rather sustainable fuel such has solar and wind is specific to small scale niches, whereas fossil fuels are the norm.

Silent Spring was published in 1962 by Rachel Carson and is directly challenged the chemical industry, specifically the use of the pesticide DDT and its effects on bird populations. Additionally, this book is widely considered to have launched the modern environmentalism movement and led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

The Roman Republic was governed by a senate that elected government officials and created laws that dictated day to day living in the state. All power was concentrated in the elite "patrician" class and all government officials were also elected from within this elite group. This elitism led to an uprising of the lower class "plebeians," which earned them an assembly that could veto the Senate, much like the bicameral system used by the United States.

The Great Fire of Rome of 64 AD destroyed a majority of the city, and many accused Nero himself of starting the fire in order to clear land for the new buildings and renovations he had planned for the city (including an elaborate palace for himself). While these accusations were largely unproven, the image of Nero joyfully celebrating has remained iconic in popular culture to this day.