The five tragedies that occurred on Tisha B’av:[1]

1. On Tisha B’av of year 2449 the Meraglim returned and it was decreed that the Jewish people in the desert would not enter Eretz Yisrael.
2. On Tisha B’av of year 3338[2] [שלח-422 BCE] the first Temple was destroyed.
3. On Tisha B’av of year 3828[3] ]68 CE] The second Temple was destroyed.
4. On Tisha B’av of year 3881 or 3901[4] The city of Beitar was destroyed.
5. On Tisha B’av the city [of Jerusalem] was plowed by Turnus Rufus.

 

Other calamities associated with Tisha B’Av:

• The First Crusade officially commenced on August 15, 1096 (Av 24, AM 4856), killing 10,000 Jews in its first month and destroying Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland.
• The Jews were expelled from England on July 18, 1290 (Av 9, 5050).
• The Jews were expelled from France on July 22, 1306 (Av 10, 5066).
• The Jews were expelled from Spain on July 31, 1492 (Av 7, 5252).
• Germany entered World War I on August 1–2, 1914 (Av 9–10, AM 5674), which caused massive upheaval in European Jewry and whose aftermath led to the Holocaust.
• On August 2, 1941 (Av 9, 5701), SS commander Heinrich Himmler formally received approval from the Nazi Party for “The Final Solution.” As a result, the Holocaust began during which almost one third of the world’s Jewish population perished.
• On July 23, 1942 (Av 9, 5702), began the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka.

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[1] Mishneh Taanis 26b

[2] Seder Hadoros; See Gittin 88a and Rashi on Vaeschanan that we were exiled 850 years after entering Eretz Yisrael, and we entered Eretz Yisrael in the year 2488.

[3] Seder Hadoros; See Rashi Avoda Zara 9a

[4] Seder Hadoros