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Spanish flu


 
 
The 1918 flu pandemic (commonly referred to as the Spanish flu) was an influenzaInfluenza

Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease that infects birds and mammals and is caused by an RNA...
 pandemic that was first found in the United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
, appeared in Sierra LeoneSierra Leone

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa....
 and FranceFrance

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and whi...
, and then spread to nearly every part of the world. It was caused by an unusually severe and deadly Influenza A virus strainStrain (biology) Summary

In biology, Strain can be used in three ways....
 of subtype H1N1H1N1

H1N1 is a subtype of the species Influenza A virus....
. Many of its victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or otherwise weakened patients.
The Spanish flu lasted from March 1918 to June 1920, spreading even to the ArcticArctic

The Arctic is the area around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctican area around the South Pole....
 and remote Pacific islands. It is estimated that anywhere from 20 to 100 million people were killed worldwide, or the approximate equivalent of one third of the population of Europe, more than double the number killed in World War IWorld War I

World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War and "The War to End All Wars" was a global m...
.






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Timeline

1918   August — "Spanish Flu" Influenza becomes pandemic; over twenty-five million people die in the following six months (almost two times as many as died during the war).

1919   November — At end of month health officials declare the global Spanish Flu Pandemic over






Encyclopedia


The 1918 flu pandemic (commonly referred to as the Spanish flu) was an influenzaInfluenza

Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease that infects birds and mammals and is caused by an RNA...
 pandemic that was first found in the United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
, appeared in Sierra LeoneSierra Leone

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa....
 and FranceFrance

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and whi...
, and then spread to nearly every part of the world. It was caused by an unusually severe and deadly Influenza A virus strainStrain (biology) Summary

In biology, Strain can be used in three ways....
 of subtype H1N1H1N1

H1N1 is a subtype of the species Influenza A virus....
. Many of its victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or otherwise weakened patients.
The Spanish flu lasted from March 1918 to June 1920, spreading even to the ArcticArctic

The Arctic is the area around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctican area around the South Pole....
 and remote Pacific islands. It is estimated that anywhere from 20 to 100 million people were killed worldwide, or the approximate equivalent of one third of the population of Europe, more than double the number killed in World War IWorld War I

World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War and "The War to End All Wars" was a global m...
. This extraordinary toll resulted from the extremely high infection rate of up to 50% and the extreme severity of the symptoms, suspected to be caused by cytokine stormCytokine storm

A cytokine storm is a potentially fatal immune reaction consisting of a positive feedback loop between cytokines and immune ...
s.

The disease was first observed at Fort Riley, Kansas, United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
, on March 4, 1918, and QueensQueens

Queens is one of the five boroughs of New York City....
, New YorkNew York

New York is a state in the northeastern United States....
, on March 11, 1918. In August 1918, a more virulent strain appeared simultaneously in Brest, FranceBrest, France

Brest is a city in the Bretagne rgion, north-west France, sous-prfecture of the Finistre dpartement....
, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and in the U.S. at Boston, MassachusettsBoston, Massachusetts

Boston is the capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States....
. The Allies of World War IFacts About Allies of World War I

The Allies of World War I are sometimes also referred to as the Entente Powers or The Triple Entent....
 came to call it the Spanish flu, primarily because the pandemic received greater press attention after it moved from France to Spain in November 1918. SpainSpain

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a European parliamentary monarchy....
 was not involved in the war and had not imposed wartime censorshipCensorship

Censorship is the control of speech and other forms of human expression....
.

Scientists have used tissue samples from frozen victims to reproduce the virus for study. Given the strain's extreme virulence there has been controversy regarding the wisdom of such research. Among the conclusions of this research is that the virus kills via a cytokine stormCytokine storm

A cytokine storm is a potentially fatal immune reaction consisting of a positive feedback loop between cytokines and immune ...
, which explains its unusually severe nature and the unusual age profile of its victims (the virus caused an overreaction of the body's immune system—the strong immune systems of young adults ravaged the body, while the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults caused less morbidity and mortality).

Mortality


The global mortality rateMortality rate

Mortality rate is the number of deaths per 1000 people and typically reported on an annual basis....
 from the 1918/1919 pandemic is not known, but is estimated at 2.5 to 5% of the human population, with 20% or more of the world population suffering from the disease to some extent. Influenza may have killed as many as 25 million in its first 25 weeks (in contrast, AIDSAIDS

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a collection of symptoms and infections i...
 killed 25 million in its first 25 years). Older estimates say it killed 40–50 million people while current estimates say 50 million to 100 million people worldwide were killed. This pandemic has been described as "the greatest medical holocaust in history" and may have killed more people than the Black DeathBlack Death

The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a devastating pandemic that first struck Europe in the mid-late-1...
.

An estimated 7 million died in IndiaIndia

India , officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia....
, about 2.78% of India's population at the time. In the Indian Army, almost 22% of troops who caught the disease died of it . In the U.S.United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
, about 28% of the population suffered, and 500,000 to 675,000 died. In BritainUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

| align="center" colspan="2"| United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland...
 as many as 250,000 died; in FranceFrance

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and whi...
 more than 400,000. In Canada approximately 50,000 died. Entire villages perished in AlaskaAlaska

Alaska is a U.S. state, located on the northwest tier of North America....
 and southern AfricaSouthern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics....
. In AustraliaAustralia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland o...
 an estimated 12,000 people died and in the Fiji Islands, 14% of the population died during only two weeks, and in Western Samoa 22%.

This huge death toll was caused by an extremely high infection rate of up to 50% and the extreme severity of the symptoms, suspected to be caused by cytokine storms. Indeed, symptoms in 1918 were so unusual that initially influenza was misdiagnosed as dengue, choleraCholera

Cholera is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is typically ingested by drinking conta...
, or typhoid. One observer wrote, "One of the most striking of the complications was hemorrhage from mucous membranes, especially from the nose, stomach, and intestine. Bleeding from the ears and petechial hemorrhagesPetechia

A petechia is a small red or purple spot on the body, caused by a minor hemorrhage....
 in the skin also occurred." The majority of deaths were from bacterial pneumoniaBacterial pneumonia

Bacterial pneumonia is an infection of the lungs by bacteria....
, a secondary infection caused by influenza, but the virus also killed people directly, causing massive hemorrhagesBleeding

Bleeding is the loss of blood from the body....
 and edemaEdema

Edema or oedema, formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is swelling of any organ or tissue due to accumulat...
 in the lung.

The unusually severe disease killed between 2 and 20% of those infected, as opposed to the more usual flu epidemic mortality rateMortality rate

Mortality rate is the number of deaths per 1000 people and typically reported on an annual basis....
 of 0.1%. Another unusual feature of this pandemic was that it mostly killed young adults, with 99% of pandemic influenza deaths occurring in people under 65, and more than half in young adults 20 to 40 years old. This is unusual since influenza is normally most deadly to the very young (under age 2) and the very old (over age 70).

History

While World War IWorld War I

World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War and "The War to End All Wars" was a global m...
 did not cause the flu, the close troop quarters and massive troop movements hastened the pandemic. Researchers speculate that the soldiers' immune systems were weakened by the stresses of combat and chemical attacks, increasing their susceptibility to the disease.

A large factor of worldwide flu prevalence was increased travel. The modern transportation systems made it easier for soldiers, sailors, and travelers to spread the disease quickly and to communities worldwide.

Two poems, dedicated to the Spanish flu, were popular in those days:

I had a little bird,

Its name was Enza,

I opened the window,

And in-flew-enza.

-American Skipping Rhyme circa 1918


Obey the laws

And wear the gauze.

Protect your jaws

From septic paws.

Patterns of fatality

The influenza strainStrain (biology)

In biology, Strain can be used in three ways....
 was unusual in that this pandemic killed many young adults and otherwise healthy victims – typical influenzas kill mostly infantInfant

Infant is a formal term for the word baby, the youngest category of a child....
s (aged 0-2 years), the elderly, and the immunocompromised. Another oddity was that this influenza outbreak was widespread in summer and fall (in the Northern Hemisphere). Typically, influenza is worse in the winter months.

People without symptoms could be stricken suddenly and within hours be too weak to walk; many died the next day. Symptoms included a blue tint to the face and coughing up blood caused by severe obstruction of the lungs. In some cases, the virus caused an uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs, and patients drowned in their body fluids. In others, the flu caused frequent loss of bowel control and the victim would die from losing critical intestinal lining and blood loss.

In fast-progressing cases, mortality was primarily from pneumoniaPneumonia

Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the alveoli become inflamed and flooded with fluid....
, by virus-induced consolidationConsolidation (medicine)

Consolidation is a clinical term for solidification into a firm dense mass....
. Slower-progressing cases featured secondary bacterial pneumonias, and there may have been neural involvement that led to mental disorders in a minority of cases. Some deaths resulted from malnourishment and even animal attacks in overwhelmed communities.

Devastated communities

While in most places less than one-third of the population was infected, only a small percentage of whom died, in a number of towns in several countries entire populations were wiped out.

Even in areas where mortality was low, those incapacitated by the illness were often so numerous as to bring much of everyday life to a stop. Some communities closed all stores or required customers not to enter the store but place their orders outside the store for filling. There were many reports of places with no health care workers to tend the sick because of their own ill health and no able-bodied grave diggers to bury the dead. Mass graves were dug by steam shovelSteam shovel

A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil....
 and bodies buried without coffins in many places.

Unaffected locales

In JapanJapan

is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of China, Korea, and Russia, stretching from...
, 257,363 deaths were attributed to influenza by July 1919, giving an estimated 0.425% mortality rate, much lower than nearly all other Asian countries for which data are available. The Japanese government severely restricted maritime travel to and from the home islands when the pandemic struck. The only sizeable inhabited place with no documented outbreak of the flu in 1918–1919 was the island of MarajóMarajó

Maraj is an inhabited island, located at the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil....
 at the mouth of the Amazon RiverAmazon River

The Amazon River or River Amazon; Spanish: Ro Amazonas, Portuguese: Rio Amazonas) of South America is the seco...
 in BrazilBrazil

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest and most populous country in South America, and ...

. In the Pacific, American SamoaAmerican Samoa

American Samoa is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean southeas...

and the French colony of New CaledoniaNew Caledonia

New Caledonia, the foreshortened form of Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies , is a "sui generis collectiv...


also succeeded in preventing even a single death from influenza through effective quarantineQuarantine

Quarantine is enforced isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous ....
s. In Australia, only 12,000 perished compared to higher rates in other countries.

Government Response

The Great Influenza was the source of much fear in citizens around the world. Further inflaming that fear was the fact that governments and health officials were downplaying the influenza. While the panic from WWI was dwindling, governments attempted to keep morale up by spreading lies and dismissing the influenza. On Sept. 11, 1918, Washington officials reported that the Spanish Influenza had arrived in the city. The following day, roughly thirteen million men across the country lined up to register for the war draft, providing the influenza with an efficient way to spread. However, the influenza had little impact upon institutions and organizations. While medical scientists did rapidly attempt to discover a cure or vaccine, there were virtually no changes in the government or corporations. Additionally, the political and military events were fairly unaffected due to the impartiality of the disease, affecting either side likewise.

Cultural Impact

In the United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
, despite the relatively high morbidityMorbidity

In medicine, epidemiology and actuarial science, the term morbidity can refer to...
 and mortalityMortality

Mortality is the condition of being mortal, or susceptible to death; the opposite of immortality....
 rates that resulted from the epidemic in 1918-1919, the Spanish flu remained a relatively obscure event until the rise in public awareness of bird fluBird flu

Bird flu may refer to:;Biology and disease...
 and other pandemics in the 1990s and 2000s. This has led some historians to label the Spanish flu a “forgotten pandemic.” Indeed, one of the only major works of American literature written after 1918 that deals directly with the Spanish flu is Katherine Anne PorterKatherine Anne Porter

Katherine Ann Porter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer and novelist and politic...
’s Pale Horse, Pale RiderPale Horse, Pale Rider

Pale Horse, Pale Rider is a collection of three novellas by American author Katherine Anne Porter published in 1939....
. More recently (2006), author Thomas Mullen wrote a novel called The Last Town on Earth, about the impact of the Spanish flu on a fictional mill town in Washington and author Myra Goldberg wrote a novel called Wickett's Remedy that is set in Boston during the pandemic.

Several theories have been offered as to why the Spanish flu may have been “forgotten” by historians and the public over so many years, including the rapid pace of the pandemic (it killed most of its victims in the United States in a period of less than nine months), Americans' familiarity with pandemic disease in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the distraction of the First World War. Another explanation is shown when observing the age group affected by the disease. The majority of fatalities, in both World War One and by the Spanish Flu, were young adults. The deaths caused by the flu were overlooked due to the deaths from the war. When people would read the obituaries they would see the deaths from war and the deaths from the influenza side by side. Seeing the figures right next to each other lessened the impact the influenza had on individual people. The fact that the disease would usually only affect a certain area for a month before leaving, left little time for the disease to have a significant impact on the economy. During this time period pandemic out breaks were not uncommon, the terror of typhoid, yellow fever, diphtheria, and cholera all occurred near the same time period. These outbreaks lessened the impact the Influenza pandemic had on Americans.

Spanish flu research

One theory is that the virus strain originated at Fort RileyFort Riley

Fort Riley is a United States Army post located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhatta...
, KansasKansas

Kansas is a Midwestern state in the Central United States....
, by two geneticGenetics

Genetics is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms....
 mechanisms – genetic driftGenetic drift

Genetic drift is the term used in population genetics to refer to the statistical drift over time of allele frequencies in a...
 and antigenic shiftAntigenic shift

Antigenic shift is the process by which two different strains of influenza combine to form a new subtype having a mixture of...
 – in viruses in poultry and swine which the fort bred for local consumption, but evidence from a recent reconstruction of the virus suggests that it jumped directly from birds to humansBird flu

Bird flu may refer to:;Biology and disease...
, without traveling through swine. On October 5, 2005, researchers announced that the genetic sequence of the 1918 flu strain, a subtype of avian strain H1N1, had been reconstructed using historic tissue samples. On 18 January 2007, Kobasa et al. reported that infected monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) exhibited classic symptoms of the 1918 pandemic and died from a cytokine stormCytokine storm

A cytokine storm is a potentially fatal immune reaction consisting of a positive feedback loop between cytokines and immune ...
.

Victims

Famous

  • Guillaume ApollinaireGuillaume Apollinaire

    Guillaume Apollinaire was a poet, writer, and art critic....
    , French poet († November 9, 1918)
  • Felix ArndtFelix Arndt

    Felix Arndt was a United States pianist and composer of popular music....
    , American pianist († October 16, 1918)
  • George FreethGeorge Freeth

    George Freeth, is often credited as being the "Father of Modern Surfing"....
    , father of modern surfing and lifeguard († April 7, 1919)
  • Sophie Halberstadt-Freud, daughter of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud

    Sigmund FreudThe name Freud is generally pronounced [] in English and [] in German....
    , († 1920)
  • Harold GilmanHarold Gilman

    The British artist Harold John Wilde Gilman was a founder-member of the Camden Town Group....
    , British painter († February 12, 1919)
  • Henry G. GinacaHenry G. Ginaca

    Henry G. Ginaca was an American engineer who invented, at the direction of Hawaiian pineapple magnate James Dole in 1911, a ...
    , American engineer, inventor of the Ginaca machine († October 19, 1918)
  • Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer († April 8, 1920)
  • Joe HallJoe Hall

    Joe Hall, nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman....
    , Montreal CanadiensMontreal Canadiens

    The Montreal Canadiens are the oldest established National Hockey League franchise, and the second most successful professi...
     defencemanDefenceman (ice hockey)

    Defence in hockey is a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals....
    , a member of the Hockey Hall of FameHockey Hall of Fame

    The Hockey Hall of Fame which is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, celebrates the history of ice hockey with exhibits fea...
      († April 6, 1919).
  • Phoebe HearstPhoebe Hearst

    Phoebe Apperson Hearst was born in Franklin County, Missouri, United States....
    , mother of William Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph Hearst

    William Randolph Hearst was an American newspaper magnate, born in San Francisco, California....
    , († April 13, 1919)
  • Francisco MartoJacinta and Francisco Marto

    Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta Marto, also known as Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto, togethe...
    , FátimaOur Lady of Fatima

    Our Lady of Fatima is the title given to the Virgin Mary by Catholics and others who believe that she appeared monthly, for ...
     child
    († April 4, 1919)
  • Jacinta MartoJacinta and Francisco Marto

    Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta Marto, also known as Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto, togethe...
    , FátimaOur Lady of Fatima

    Our Lady of Fatima is the title given to the Virgin Mary by Catholics and others who believe that she appeared monthly, for ...
     child
    († February 20, 1920)
  • Alan Arnett McLeodAlan Arnett McLeod

    Alan Arnett McLeod was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in t...
    , Victoria CrossVictoria Cross

    The Victoria Cross is the highest recognition for valour "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the Br...
     winner, († 6 November, 1918)
  • Sir Hubert ParryHubert Parry

    Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry was an English composer, probably best known for his setting of William Blake's poem, Je...
    , BritishUnited Kingdom

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast...
     composerComposer Summary

    A composer is a person who writes music....
    , († October 7, 1918)
  • William Leefe Robinson, Victoria CrossVictoria Cross

    The Victoria Cross is the highest recognition for valour "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the Br...
     winner, († December 31, 1918)
  • Edmond RostandEdmond Rostand

    Edmond Eugne Alexis Rostand , French poet and dramatist....
    , French dramatist, best known for his play Cyrano de BergeracCyrano de Bergerac (play)

    Cyrano de Bergerac is a play by Edmond Rostand based on the life of the real Cyrano de Bergerac....
    , († December 2, 1918)
  • Egon SchieleEgon Schiele

    Egon Schiele was an Austrian painter, a protege of Gustav Klimt, and a major figurative painter of the early 20th century....
    , Austrian painter († October 31, 1918). His wife Edith, who was six months pregnant, succumbed to the disease only three days before.
  • Yakov SverdlovFacts About Yakov Sverdlov

    Yakov Mikhaylovich Sverdlov, born Yankel Movshevich Sverdlov; known under pseudonyms "Andrey", "Mikhalych", "Max", "Smirnov...
    , BolshevikBolshevik

    Bolsheviks were members of the Bolshevik faction of the Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party....
     party leader and official of pre-USSR RussiaFacts About Russia

    Russia , also the Russian Federation , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Eurasia....
     († March 16 1919)
  • Mark SykesMark Sykes

    Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet was an English traveller, Conservative Party politician and diplomatic advisor, particularly abo...
    , British politician and diplomat († February 16, 1919)
  • Max WeberMax Weber

    Maximilian Weber was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern stud...
    , German political economist and sociologist († June 14, 1920)
  • Prince Erik, Duke of VästmanlandPrince Erik, Duke of Västmanland

    Prince Erik of Sweden and Norway, Duke of V?stmanland , Duke of V?stmanland, was the third and youngest son of King Gustav ...
     (Erik Gustav Ludvig Albert Bernadotte), Prince of Sweden, Duke of Västmanland († September 20, 1918)
  • Vera KholodnayaVera Kholodnaya Summary

    Vera Vasilyevna Kholodnaya was the first star of Russian silent cinema....
    , The first star of Russian silent cinema († February 16, 1919)
  • Dark Cloud (actor)Facts About Dark Cloud (actor)

    Elija Tahamont or Dark Cloud was an Native American silent film actor....
    , aka Elijah Tahamont, American Indian actor, in Los Angeles (1918).
  • Franz Karl Salvator (1893-1918), son of Archduchess Marie Valerie of AustriaArchduchess Marie Valerie of Austria

    Marie Valerie, Archduchess of Austria was the fourth and last child of Elisabeth of Bavaria and Franz Josef of Austria....
     and Archduke Franz Salvator, grandson of Empress Elisabeth of BavariaElisabeth of Bavaria Summary

    Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Duchess in Bavaria and Princess of Bavaria, of the House of Wittelsbach, was the Empress consort o...
     and Emperor Franz Joseph I of AustriaFranz Joseph I of Austria

    Francis Joseph I of the Habsburg Dynasty was Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary and King of Bohemia from 1848 u...
    , died unmarried and childless.
  • Anaseini Takipo, Queen of TongaTonga

    Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, , is an independent archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean....
     from 1909, consort of King George Tupou II of TongaGeorge Tupou II of Tonga

    Siaosi Tupou II, King of Tonga was the king of Tonga from February 18 1893 until his death....
    , survived by one daughter, († November 26, 1918)
  • Louis BothaLouis Botha

    Louis Botha was an Afrikaner and first Prime Minister of the modern South African state, then called the Union of South Afri...
    , first Prime Minister of the Union of South AfricaFacts About Union of South Africa

    The Union of South Africa came into being on 31 May 1910, resulting in the consolidation of the two Boer Republics with the ...
    , († August 27, 1919)
  • Harry Elionsky, American champion long-distance swimmer
  • "Admiral Dot" (1864-1918), circus performer under P. T. BarnumP. T. Barnum

    Phineas Taylor Barnum, American showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes and for founding the circus that ...
  • Irmy Cody Garlow, daughter of Buffalo Bill CodyBuffalo Bill

    William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was an American soldier, buffalo hunter and showman....
  • Harold LockwoodHarold Lockwood

    Harold Lockwood was one of the most popular original silent film actors and matinee idols of the early film period during th...
    , silent film star, († October 19, 1918)
  • Larry ChappellLarry Chappell

    La Verne Ashford ?Larry? Chappell was a professional baseball player who played from 1913 to 1917 for the Chicago White Sox,...
    , American baseball player, († November 8, 1918)
  • Angus DouglasAngus Douglas

    Angus Douglas Angus Douglas was a tricky winger playing mostly on the right....
    , Scottish international footballer, († December 14, 1918)

Fictional

  • Hazel Forrest Bellamy, a fictional character in the television series "Upstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, Downstairs

    Upstairs, Downstairs was a 1970s British television series set in a grand Edwardian town house in London and depicting t...
    " (played by Meg Wynn Owen) († 1918)
  • William Krichinsky, a fictional character in the film "Avalon", directed by Barry Levinson
  • Fanny and Jemma Macgregor in If I Die Before I Wake by Jean LittleJean Little

    Jean Little is a Canadian author born in 1932....
  • Elizabeth Masen and Edward Anthony Masen Sr., fictional characters in the Twilight series by Stephenie MeyerStephenie Meyer

    Stephenie Meyer is the author of the book Twilight, which was published in October 2005....
    . († 1918) Main character Edward CullenEdward Cullen (Twilight)

    Edward Cullen is a fictional character in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series....
     was saved from a similar influenza death by being bitten by a vampire.

Further reading

  • . A popular history.




External links




  • , by the National Archives and Records Administration (see actual pictures and records of the time).
  • - The New York TimesThe New York Times

    The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr....
  • , Cosmos magazine, September 2006
  • , 1918 newspaper account on impact of flu on Minneapolis
  • BBC News, January 2007
  • University of Wisconsin - Madison, January 17, 2007
  • Journal of Translational Medicine, January 20, 2004