Top 20 Moments That Made the World ANGRY

Welcome to WatchMojo, where we’ll be counting down our picks for the 20 historical moments that triggered the most global outrage.

#20: The Stock Market Crash (1929)

The 1920s were dubbed the Roaring Twenties, but the thirties were called the Great Depression. It began in 1929, due to myriad complicated factors, but the biggest sign of what was to come was the Wall Street crash. In October 1929, stock prices began to steeply decline after almost a decade of constant increase. This led to “Black Thursday” on October 24th, where almost 13 millions shares of stock were traded - a record at the time. It was followed by a global economic depression, causing major unemployment, which helped lead to the rise of extreme ideologies. The poor economic conditions outraged the population, making them more open to the ideas spread by figures like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

#19: The Death of George Floyd (2020)

In 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer who choked him to death in the street. It was one of many examples of police abusing their power, targeting innocent people who weren’t white. It was followed up by global protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, calling for an end to such injustices. The officer responsible was later found guilty of murder and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. Years later, the racial injustice issue is still debated, with many believing positive changes are yet to be made. On the other side, people have begun spreading extremely racist misinformation that Floyd was killed by narcotics, an incredibly harmful and prejudiced idea.

#18: 9/11 (2001)

On September 11th, 2001, members of al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners and tried to fly them into American monuments. Passengers prevented one plane from hitting its target, causing it to crash in a Pennsylvania field. Another hit the Pentagon, and the other two flew directly into the World Trade Center. It was one of the most despicable attacks in global history, causing 2,977 deaths and injuring many more. The entire world stood still after the news struck. America retaliated by going to war with Afghanistan in an effort to overthrow al-Qaeda. This led to even more deaths and roughly twenty years of American troops in Afghanistan.

#17: Catholic Church Abuse Scandal (20th-21st Century)

In the 80s and 90s, there were numerous public investigations into claims of abuse perpetrated by the Catholic Church. It turned out that, for decades, many clergy and related figures had been mistreating children and covering it up. It took a while before action was taken, leading to Sinéad O’Connor famously ripping up a photo of the Pope on “Saturday Night Live.” A study from 2021 found that over 200,000 children were mistreated by the church in France dating back to 1950. The problem remains a long way from being solved, with the U.N. criticizing the Vatican in 2021 for its inadequate response. This poor handling caused approximately one-third of Catholics to stop attending Mass.

#16: The Arab Spring (2010-11)

In 2010, a wave of pro-democratic uprisings swept across North Africa and the Middle East. It kicked off in Tunisia in opposition to government corruption. It then spread east, to countries like Egypt and Syria. Many governments responded harshly, hampering the movement’s momentum. It led to the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, which wouldn’t depose the Ba’athist regime until December 2024. Libya also deposed its leader, Gaddafi, in 2011, and ISIS rose to power in Iraq. It’s considered one of the most important series of events in the 21st century so far, and its effects are still felt.

#15: Russian Invasion of Ukraine (2022-)

Since 2022, Russia has been aggressively trying to invade its neighbor, Ukraine. It’s been met with global condemnation, with numerous nations retaliating with economic sanctions on Russia. As of 2025, peace is still far on the horizon, with Putin making massive demands for Ukraine. The country is struggling to get America on its side, with President Donald Trump siding more with his friend Putin than with Ukraine. This means peace talks have largely been viewed as one-sided and so have been met with public outrage. If Ukraine agreed, it’d leave itself especially weak, and it would have no chance of defending itself if Russia invaded again in the future.

#14: Palestine & Israel (1947-)

After World War II, Britain decided to partition Palestine, leading to the creation of the state of Israel. A civil war erupted, and since then, Palestine has been perceived bny many as the victim of Israeli colonization. After over 70 years of constant conflict, Israel has begun what the United Nations has called a genocide. It was a response to the horrific October 7th attacks, but many would argue that using that as a primary motivator ignores the decades of conflict that preceded it. Since 2023, Israel has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them children. Israel began blocking aid to Gaza, and with little international response beyond protests, many worry they’ll succeed in their genocide, while millions watch horrified.

#13: Chernobyl Disaster Cover Up (1986)

In 1986, Chernobyl became the location of the most expensive disaster in human history. It was caused by the toxic Soviet leadership, which forced untrained staff to run tests that led to its explosion. While the disaster led to outrage, the Soviet cover-up made things far worse. The main reason the West found out about it was because the radiation leaked into Sweden. The Soviets responded by saying not to worry about this “radiation situation.” Many locals didn’t even realize they were being exposed to high levels of radiation. The Swedish situation eventually led the West to learn about the disaster’s true extent, resulting in global condemnation for the Soviets’ poor handling.

#12: Tiananmen Square Massacre (1989)

After Mao Zedong died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping managed to take control of China, then began to reform the country significantly. This led to the adoption of Socialism with Chinese characteristics, which made the country more capitalistic. During the 80s, the New Enlightenment movement began, which sought Democracy in China. This led to the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, which led to Deng’s regime ordering the military to end the protests, causing a massacre of protestors. The harsh response led to international outrage, and the incident has since become heavily censored in China. Now China is a global superpower, under the rule of Xi Jinping, but it’s unlikely that it’ll become a Western-style democracy within our lifetimes.

#11: Srebrenica Massacre (1995)

The Bosnian war was a brutal conflict in the Balkans that lasted from 1992 until ‘95. In 1995, the Bosnian Serb army perpetrated Europe’s first legally recognized genocide since the holocaust. After capturing the town of Srebrenica, the soldiers went about murdering over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims. It was the idea of Commander Ratko Mladic, who kept it going for 10 days straight. Now, he is serving a life sentence for war crimes in the Hague. Over 30 years later, mass graves are still being discovered in the area. Serbia has apologized since, but has drawn criticism for not admitting it was a genocide.

#10: Sharpeville Massacre (1960)

Between 1948 and the 90s, South Africa enforced apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation. This meant the country’s relatively small white population was the country’s ruling class. Millions were forced into racially segregated neighbourhoods. In 1960, the Pan African Congress peacefully protested this regime in the town of Sharpeville. In response, the police started gunning down the protestors. At least 69 people were killed, with 180 injured. It’s considered one of the most horrific human rights abuses of the 20th century. It motivated protests and strikes all across South Africa, and received international condemnation.

#9: Rwandan Genocide (1994)

The Rwandan Civil War was fueled by intense hatred between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. It began in 1990, and after 4 years of bloodshed, things reached their most violent. Over a roughly 100-day period, between 500,000 and 800,000 Tutsi were slaughtered by Hutu militias. Words are unable to describe the despicable violence that took place during this period. Unfortunately, the rest of the world failed to step in and curb the brutality. The genocide ended when the war did, with the predominantly Tutsi group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, emerging victorious. That didn’t mean peace for Rwanda; unfortunately, the war was followed by an immense refugee crisis and two more Congo Wars, also called the First and Second Hutu Genocides.

#8: The French Revolution (1789-99)

In 1972, Chinese statesman Zhou Enlai was asked about the influence of the French Revolution, and responded that it’s “too early to say.” While he misinterpreted the question, which was about a 1968 protest, it’s often spread as the misinterpreted meaning still holds. To many, the French Revolution was the most important event in human history, which sent ripples through society that are still felt today. It began with the Estates General of 1789, then led to the execution of the monarchy in 1793. This outraged the monarchs of Europe and led to 10 years of Revolutionary Wars, followed by 12 years of the Napoleonic Wars.

#7: Pearl Harbor Attack (1941)

America was initially a neutral country in World War II, which remained the case until 1941, when Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Imperial Japan had beaten Russia decades earlier, gaining a major strategic advantage through surprise attacks. Japan wanted to dominate the Pacific in the 40s, but didn’t have enough resources for a lengthy war. So they launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, hoping it would cripple America’s fleet. It failed in this respect, and America responded with way more motivation than they’d expected. The fascist powers believed they could easily destroy America, as their nations were more racially pure. Thankfully, they were completely wrong, and the Allies emerged victorious in 1945.

#6: Assassination of Franz Ferdinand (1914)

By 1914, tensions in Europe had reached a boiling point. After the Industrial Revolution, Europe’s imperial powers became eager to see whose nation was the strongest. The trigger that sparked the war was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. He was shot by a Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip. Austria-Hungary then issued an ultimatum to Serbia. At the time, Europe had a complex web of alliances. So Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia led to a domino effect of European powers declaring war on one another, until eventually almost the entire continent was involved; thus, World War I began, and it wouldn’t end until 1918.

#5: The Partition of India (1947)

A lot of issues in the world have their roots in the British Empire drawing lines on a map. After World War II, Britain decolonized India, turning it into two separate nations. They decided the boundaries of these nations based on religious majorities. This led them to separate India and Pakistan, which caused the displacement of somewhere between 12 and 20 million people. Hundreds of thousands died in the ordeal, and there are still tensions between India and Pakistan today. For instance, the two nations have both laid claim to the Kashmir region, and it’s still a heated topic over 70 years later.

#4: The Holodomor (1932-33)

During the time that Joseph Stalin was the Soviet Union’s brutal dictator, his regime was responsible for a man-made Ukrainian famine. It lasted from 1932 to1933, and caused the deaths of between 3.5 and 5 million Ukrainians. It’s unclear whether it was intentional or not, which is a highly debated topic even today. If it were intentional, this would mean it was a genocide, a stance the Ukrainian government has taken since 2006. Much like Chernobyl, the Soviets opted to try keeping it secret. They failed in this regard, thanks to the work of a handful of journalists.

#3: The Nanjing Massacre (1937-38)

Western powers found Imperial Japan behaved professionally during World War I, but by the outset of World War II, the country had become extremely nationalistic. They believed Japanese people were racially superior to Chinese people, which led them to commit horrific atrocities in the invasion of China. The Nanjing Massacre was the most infamous, when their army spent 6 straight weeks turning Nanjing into hell on Earth. Estimates claim at least 200,000 people were killed, but many more were abused and injured. The event was so despicable that it still haunts Sino-Japanese relations today, with Japanese officials still refusing to acknowledge the extent to which they were the aggressor.

#2: Hitler Invades Poland (1939)

Between 1935 and 1939, the British government used the policy of appeasement to deal with the fascist powers Italy and Germany. This meant Adolf Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles multiple times, as in when Germany annexed the Sudetenland. This allowed them to grow significantly in power, but the policy got thrown out the window the moment Hitler and Stalin invaded Poland. It was at that point Britain realized that Nazi Germany was dead set on war, and if they didn’t retaliate with force, all of Europe might have fallen to fascism. Their intensely effective blitzkrieg strategies meant Poland fell in 35 days, and by 1942, most of Europe was under their thumb.

#1: The Allies Learn of the Holocaust (1942-45)

The Holocaust was one of the most disgusting acts of violence in the entirety of history. Six million Jewish people were massacred, roughly 2/3 of all Jewish Europeans. It began in 1941 and came to an end when the war did in 1945. Germany tried hard to keep it secret, but failed in this regard. It became widely known in 1945, but rumors of the horrors first reached the Allies in 1942. They knew Hitler was persecuting followers of Judaism, but it was only when the concentration camps were liberated that we understood the severity. Majdanek, captured by the Soviets in 1944, became the first camp whose terrors were published.

Were there any particularly monumental moments we failed to mention? Let us know in the comments section!