We like to imagine that we learn from our tragedies—that when the worst moment comes, people change their ways and start working together to make things right.
But sometimes, even after the catastrophe is over, the tragedy continues. People get swept up in the havoc and chaos of the moment and do things that make history's worst moments even worse. And in the aftermath, some of our darkest moments are left with details too bleak to make it into the history books.
10. Tiananmen Massacre - China Billed The Victims For The Bullets
In 1989, after the death of the controversial figure Hu Yaobang, Chinese students marched out to Tiananmen Square and tried to force real change in China. They made a list of demands and led a hunger strike, hoping to bring an end to corruption and forge the first steps toward democracy.
All that came to an end, though, when the army marched in. Soldiers and tanks advanced on Tiananmen Square, right in the heart of Beijing. At least 300 people were gunned down by their own government, with some estimates putting that number as high as 2,700.
Usually, the story ends there—but there's an extra little detail that makes it that much worse. After the massacre, some sources reported that the government billed the victims' families for the cost of the bullets. The families of the protesters were charged the equivalent of 27 cents for each bullet used to kill their children.
The Chinese government has never admitted to it. But we know for a fact that they charged other dissidents for the bullets that killed them. There's a lot of reason to believe that the reports are true that the government did it here, too.
9. My Lai Massacre - Nixon Pardoned The Man Responsible
The worst incident in the Vietnam War was the My Lai Massacre. In 1968, American soldiers slaughtered more than 350 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam. They gang-raped women, mutilated children—and met absolutely no consequences.
Of everyone involved, only one soldier was actually charged: William Calley. The courts found Calley guilty of killing 22 innocent people and sentenced him to life in prison.
He never actually served the time, though. Instead, they just put him on house arrest, and he didn't do that for very long. Calley hung around at home for three years and then got a full presidential pardon from Richard Nixon.
That doesn't mean that everyone got off easy. One person suffered: Hugh Thompson. He was the man who reported the massacre and testified against the people who did it.
Thompson risked his life trying to save as many Vietnamese people as he could from his own men. He was rewarded for his bravery and heroism with death threats. People left mutilated animals on his porch each morning, and he suffered PTSD for the rest of his life.
8. Pompeii - A Nearby Town Got So Hot That People's Heads Exploded
The destruction of Pompeii is one of the most infamous natural disasters in history. An entire city was leveled under a sea of volcanic ash that killed thousands.
Compared to the people in Herculaneum, though, Pompeii got off easy. After the volcano erupted in AD 79, a witness described the scene: "A fearful black cloud, bent by forked and quivering bursts of flames, . . . sank down to the earth and covered the sea."
That black cloud hit Herculaneum and covered the whole city. It was incredibly hot—over 500 degrees Celsius (932 °F). It burned the tops of buildings off completely and then touched on the people below. At such incredible temperatures, their teeth cracked, their skin burned off, and their bones turned black. Then their heads literally exploded.
