SHOW / EPISODE

The Laki Eruption: The Volcano That Starved Europe

14m | Nov 3, 2026

In 1783, a volcanic fissure in Iceland opened up and bled lava and poison gas for eight straight months. It killed a fifth of Iceland’s population, then drifted across Europe as a toxic haze that poisoned crops, darkened skies, and may have helped tip France toward revolution. One eruption, and a continent went hungry.

In this episode of Six Feet of History, August Mercer tells the story of Laki, the slow catastrophe that unfolded over months, and the way a single Icelandic volcano reached out and touched the whole of Europe. Six Feet of History is a daily true history podcast digging up the dark, forgotten, and untold stories of the past. New episode every day.

Tags: #history #truehistory #historypodcast #darkhistory #forgottenhistory #Laki #volcano #Iceland #climatehistory #untoldhistory

Keywords: Laki eruption, volcano that starved Europe, 1783 Iceland eruption, Lakagigar, volcanic famine, Haze famine, history podcast, true history, forgotten disasters, dark history, untold history, climate history, volcanic winter, Icelandic history, Benjamin Franklin haze, French Revolution causes, Skaftar fires, sulphur gas, natural disaster, Six Feet of History

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