Great Hurricane of 1780

Historical eventOctober 91780

Great Hurricane of 1780

The deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record began to impact the Caribbean, killing at least 20,000 people across the Antilles over the subsequent days.

Everything on October 9Original source

In context

When
Monday, October 9 1780246 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
18th century · 1780s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

Russia, Greece and some other countries used the Julian calendar into the early 20th century, so local records may show a date up to 13 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: 1780-10-09 – 1780-10-20.

Place: North Atlantic Ocean.

Type: North Atlantic tropical cyclone and hurricane.

Deaths reported: 22000.

What happened

Impact Estimates of the death toll from the hurricane range from 22,000 to about 28,500, making it the deadliest hurricane in the recorded history of the Atlantic hurricane basin. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] British islands About 4,500 people died on Barbados. [ 3 ] The hurricane began affecting the island with rain late on October 9. The ships in the bay broke their moorings by 4:00 the afternoon of October 10, and the full impact arrived around 6:00 in the evening.

The Great Hurricane of 1780 was the deadliest tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere. An estimated 22,000 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through the islands from October 10 to October 16. Specifics on the hurricane's track and strength are unknown, as the official Atlantic hurricane database only goes back to 1851.

October 9 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1780Great Hurricane of 1780
  2. 1992Peekskill meteorite
  3. 1995Amtrak
  4. 20062006 North Korean nuclear test
  5. 2007Dow Jones Industrial Average
  6. 2009Lunar Precursor Robotic Program
  7. 2012Malala Yousafzai
  8. 2016Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
  9. 2019Syrian civil war
  10. 20192019 Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria
  11. 2024Hurricane Milton

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Everything we record for 1780 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Great Hurricane of 1780”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/great-hurricane-of-1780-1780-october-9, accessed October 27, 2026.

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Questions about this entry

When did Great Hurricane of 1780 happen?

October 9 1780 — 246 years ago, on a Monday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

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Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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