Before the Kurukshetra war, when Lord Krishna meets Karna and tries to persuade him to join the Pandavas in the hope that a deadly war can be avoided, Karna politely refuses. During the conversation he makes it clear that he knows the Pandavas will win and he would be killed. Karna lets us know that he is a scholar of Astrology too when he tells Lord Krishna that "The great planet Saturn is about to afflict Rohini Nakshatra that will cause heavy destruction on the planet. Mars will move from Jyestha to Anuradha nakshatra causing loss of lives of friends. Sun is heading towards Rahu resulting in a total solar eclipse."
Astrologically, Saturn is popular and feared for its Sade Sadi or Seven and Half year period where in it afflicts Natal moon in a birth horoscope before it enters the Moon sign, in the Moon sign and in the next sign after the Moon sign.
Similarly, here is a list of world events that have taken place around the seven and half year period of Saturn transiting over Rohini Nakshatra, the exaltation point of Moon.
Saturn enters Rohini Nakshatra in 2001. Related events around 2001.
1999 :
Earthquake in Turkey Kills 13,000
India Pakistan Kargil War
2000 :
Enggano earthquake
2001 :
Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January
9/11 USA World Trade Center, Pentagon bombings
2002 :
Gujarat Riots
USA war against Taliban
2003 :
USA attacked Iraq
2004 :
Deadly tsunamis triggered by strong earthquake in Indonesia caused heavy losses
2005:
Earthquake strikes Azad Kashmir, Pakistan killing more than 86,000 people.
Saturn enters Rohini Nakshatra in 1971. Related events around 1971.
1970:
Cyclone in Bangladesh. Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 500,000.
Earthquake in Peru. Earthquake in Peru kills 67,000.
1971:
Border battle between India and Pakistan
1972:
Earthquake Turkey. Earthquake lasting 20 seconds destroys most of Bingol, Turkey - more than 1000 dead, 10.000 made homeless.
Munich Olympics Terrorist Attack
1972 in the Vietnam War.
1973:
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War, or October War
was a war fought from 6 to 25 October, 1973, by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel
1974:
Turkish Airlines Flight 981 travelling from Paris to London crashes in a wood near Paris, killing all 346 aboard.
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus occurs.
Saturn enters Rohini Nakshatra in 1942. Related events around 1942.
1939
Hitler invades Poland on 1 September. Britain and France declare war on Germany two days later.
1940
Rationing starts in the UK.
German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France.
Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.
British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to postpone invasion plans.
1941
Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.
The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities.
Allies take Tobruk in North Africa, and resist German attacks.
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.
1942
Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein.
Singapore falls to the Japanese in February - around 25,000 prisoners taken.
American naval victory at Battle of Midway, in June, marks turning point in Pacific War.
Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins.
1943
Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major defeat.
Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be launched.
Italy surrenders, but Germany takes over the battle.
British and Indian forces fight Japanese in Burma.
1944
Allies land at Anzio and bomb monastery at Monte Cassino.
Soviet offensive gathers pace in Eastern Europe.
D Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated in August.
Guam liberated by the US Okinawa, and Iwo Jima bombed.
1945
Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops.
Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders on 7 May.
Truman becomes President of the US on Roosevelt's death, and Attlee replaces Churchill.
After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrenders on 14 August.