This is a list of mass stabbings that took place before 2010. It includes incidents in which there were at least three casualties (killed or injured).

1920s Kitale, Kenya Colony (1929)

1930s RMS Empress of Canada (1931)

On 5 June 1931, 42-year-old plantation laborer Graciano Bilas killed two people and injured 29 others at several locations aboard the Empress of Canada in the Pacific Ocean, off the eastern coast of Japan. Bilas, a Filipino migrant worker in Hawaii, was tried in Hong Kong the same month, charged only with the killing of one victim, Chinese crew member Chan Yue. He claimed that Japanese ship staff had planned to kill him, with doctors ascribing a manic depressive psychosis to Bilas based on other behaviour displayed after the attack. In July, Bilas was found insane and committed to a psychiatric hospital.

1950s Nainital, India (1950)

On 21 April 1950, a drunk Gurkha soldier stabbed 22 guests at a wedding in Nainital, India, all of them apparently fatally. The man, who was armed with a machete, was enraged by a low caste money lender marrying a girl of the higher social standing Brahmin caste. All of the victims were members of the Harijan caste.22 guests slain, The Bend Bulletin (21 April 1950)22 guests slain as wedding held, The Ogden Standard-Examiner (21 April 1950)Drunk Gurkha Kills 22, Los Angeles Times (22 April 1950)Murders 22 at wedding, The Huntingdon Daily News (22 April 1950)

Kampala, Uganda (1950)

Skåne County, Sweden (1952)

On 21 August 1952, 25-year-old Tore Hedin killed nine people around Skåne County, Sweden, after his ex-girlfriend, Ulla Östberg, reported him for domestic abuse. He first killed his parents and set their house on fire. He then went to Östberg's workplace, a retirement home, where Hedin killed her and the matron with an axe. He set the retirement home on fire as well, killing five of its residents. He then committed suicide by drowning in a nearby lake. Hedin had previously killed a friend of his in 1951, similarly burning the home to erase evidence.

Mahagi, Belgian Congo & Mwanza, Tanganyika (1954/1955 & 1957)

In either 1954 or 1955, Ugandan national Adrogo killed 22 family members near Mahagi, Belgian Congo with a machete. After spending several years as a fugitive under the false identity of William Unek, he committed another mass murder in the Malampaka area, Tanganyika, killing 36 people, six of whom were murdered with an axe. He was killed during a manhunt after police set fire to a hut he was hiding in and fatally shot him as he fled.

1960s San Carlos, Chile (1960)

On 20 August 1960, 21-year-old farmer Jorge Valenzuela Torres murdered his romantic partner and five of her children with a scythe at their home in Coihueco, Chile, before fleeing. He was arrested the following month and executed in 1963.

Chicago, Illinois, US (1966)

On the night of 13–14 July 1966, Richard Speck killed eight student nurses after breaking into their bedroom dormitory in Chicago, United States, holding them captive and stabbing or strangling each of them throughout the night.The Murder Almanac p. 149 A ninth student nurse escaped by hiding under a bed. Speck was identified after a suicide attempt, when he was taken to the hospital and a resident physician recognized Speck's tattoo from a description in the news.Fornek, Scott. "'They're all dead!': 40 years ago this week, Richard Speck killed 8". Chicago Sun-Times. July 9, 2006.

1980s Kowloon, Hong Kong (1982)

On 3 June 1982, 28-year-old Lee Chi-hang killed six people in two knife attacks in Kowloon, Hong Kong. He first killed his mother and sister, also injuring two neighbours as he fled. Lee then entered Anne Anne Kindergarten and stabbed 34 children, killing four of them, also injuring several bystanders, before he was arrested by police. Lee, previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, was found to be insane and was placed in a mental institution.Man goes wild; 4 die, Wilmington Morning Star (4 June 1982)

After the stabbing, security measures at nursery schools were upgraded, and it was made compulsory for discharged patients of mental institutions to regularly attend psychiatric out-patient clinics.Care versus caution , The Standard (18 January 1998)

Banyuwagi Regency, Indonesia (1987)

Chantada, Spain (1989)

On 8 March 1989, Paulino Fernández stabbed seven people to death and injured at least six others in Chantada, Spain, before killing himself.

Nafang, China (1989) On the afternoon of 19 March 1989, Huang Guozhen killed 16 or 17 people and injured two others in Nafang, a village in Guangxi, China. After becoming intoxicated, he set fire to his house and drove to his brother's house, killing his brother and his wife with a firewood knife. Guozhen then proceeded to travel to the local market and began to kill individuals at random, including children and the elderly. Sometime before the rampage killing, Huang became embroiled in a dispute with his brother, Huang Xiangbang.

Huang Guozhen was eventually subdued by bystanders Huang Guoqin and local CCP party secretary Zhou Youbang. He was arrested and tried ten days later in Qinzhou. He was sentenced to death in front of a crowd of 10,000 people and was quickly executed on the same day.

1990s Auckland, New Zealand (1990) On 16 July 1990, 52-year-old mental hospital outpatient Pauline Janet Williamson attacked the courtyard of the Jewish Kadimah College's primary school in Central Auckland, New Zealand, stabbing four children. As the pupils played in the school courtyard before school was due to start, Williamson ran onto the school courtyard, where 6 year olds Nicholas and Sam Henderson and Simon Clark, and 8-year-old Damon Bree were playing. She then produced a 4-inch, stay-sharp vegetable knife and began screaming antisemitic slogans and a Jewish surname (not one shared by any of the victims), before wildly lacerating these four children. Williamson was eventually disarmed by a male teacher, Mr Yurovitch. The children, aged 6 to 8, were hospitalised immediately afterwards; all survived, after receiving intensive surgery. They were identified by police as 6-year-old twins Nicholas and Samuel Henderson; Simon Clark, 6, and Damon Bree, 8.

This apparently random act of antisemitic violence in New Zealand, a country known to be tolerant of its Jewish community, shocked many. However, it followed the desecration of several Jewish graves in Dunedin by two months, which itself was a copycat of an attack on Jewish graves in Carpentras, in the South of France.

Birmingham, United Kingdom (1994)

On 8 December 1994, 30-year-old David Cedric Morgan slashed fifteen people in a department store in Birmingham, England. Morgan, previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, hypomania and depressive psychosis, had previously complained of "evil thoughts" about attacking women and arrested before for attacking women in the street, each resulting in conditional discharges.Knifeman told of 'evil thoughts' before attack, The Independent (6 February 1996) Three people were seriously injured and needed surgeries. In addition of those stabbed, five people were treated for shock.Slasher Injures 15 in Department Store, Associated Press (8 December 1994)Ex-psychiatric patient charged in store attacks, The Herald (9 December 1994) Morgan was arrested by police after being confronted by an armed civilian.From the Archives: The nightmare before Christmas at Rackham's, Birmingham Mail (8 December 2010)

Morgan was later determined by a psychologist to be "vulnerable and isolated", but that he apparently suffered from no mental illnesses. Morgan was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 1996. In 2002, he was transferred from the Broadmoor Hospital to a medium security unit where he would be allowed on escorted shopping trips as part of rehabilitation. In 2006, Morgan, then 43 years old, was released into the community to go shopping. At the time he was being treated at the Stafford's St George's Hospital.Rackhams slasher pops out shopping, Business Live (19 August 2006)

Naples, Florida, US (1995) In the early hours of 15 November 1995, 26-year old Brandy Bain Jennings and 19-year old Charles Jason Graves killed three former co-workers at a Cracker Barrel in Naples, Florida, United States. Jennings & Graves robbed the restaurant and slit the throats of 18-year old Jason Wiggins, 38-year old Dorothy Siddle, and 27-year old Vicki Smith. Both suspects were caught a year later in Las Vegas and were sentenced to death.https://kristaprince.medium.com/20-years-later-cracker-barrel-murders-of-1995-381bbe239a5a

Chenggu County, China (1998) On 23 June 1998, 39-year-old farmer Yang Mingxin attacked fellow villagers with an axe in Chenggu County, Shaanxi, China. Nine people were killed and three were wounded. Yang, who was described as reticent, had refused to sell ten stolen geese for another farmer named Guo Baoning, and when the owner of the geese later caught him, Guo suspected Yang had informed on him. After a heated argument between the two, during which Guo threatened to kill Yang's family, Yang armed himself with an axe and hacked twelve villagers between 4 months and 71 years of age. Unable to locate Guo he eventually tried to commit suicide by drinking insecticide and hanging himself, but was rescued and taken to a hospital.Axe-wielding China farmer kills 9 in goose row (August 17, 1998) webarchive-link9 killed over geese, The Tribune (August 18, 1998)Axe-wielding China farmer kills nine in goose row, Reuters (August 16, 1998)

Krông Pắk District, Vietnam (1998) On 8 August 1998, 35-year-old rice farmer Dương Văn Môn killed twelve people and injured six in Krông Pắk District, Vietnam. Dương, a member of the Nùng minority, had attacked guests at his mother's funeral after repeated conflicts with other villagers regarding her burial,12 dead in Vietnam after stabbing rampage, Associated Press (August 10, 1998) further compounded by prior mental illness and financial troubles related to the arrangement of a traditional funeral feast.Elf Tote bei Trauerfeier, Darmstädter Echo (November 7, 1998)12 dead in Vietnam after man goes on stabbing spree, The Seattle Times (August 10, 1998)

On the third day of the festivities, when his guests began to complain that there was not enough to drink and eat, Dương armed himself with two machete-like knives and began to attack his relatives and neighbours. He first stabbed an elderly woman preparing food in his house, as well as a child, and eventually began chasing people throughout the village. The dead included seven children, with his wife among the injured. Eleven died at the scene while one of the wounded died in hospital. Afterwards he tried to commit suicide by swallowing insecticide, but was forced to vomit it when he was captured by villagers hours later. He was then arrested by police and brought to a hospital.12 stabbed to death, The Tribune (August 11, 1998)Man kills 12 at mother's funeral, New Straits Times (August 11, 1998)12 dead in Vietnam after stabbing rampage, Associated Press (August 10, 1998)Vietnamese stabs 12 people to death at mom's funeral , AFP (August 10, 1998) (webarchive-link) Môn was sentenced to death for the murders in November 1998.Undank, Süddeutsche Zeitung (November 7, 1998)

Shimonoseki, Japan (1999)

On 29 September 1999, 35-year-old Yasuaki Uwabe drove a car into Shimonoseki Station and then stabbed passers-by at random, killing five people and injuring 10 others, before being arrested at the scene. Uwabe was sentenced to death in 2002 and executed in 2012.

2000s Orleans, Ontario, Canada

Ikeda, Japan

On 8 June 2001, 37-year-old ex-convict Mamoru Takuma killed students and injured fifteen others at an elementary school in Ikeda, Japan. He worked as a janitor at the school, with the injured being thirteen students and two teachers. He was executed in 2004. Also published online as "Diminished sense of safety in Japan".