1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eves and welcome to This 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a podcast where we rip out 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: a page from the history books every day. Today is 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: March eleventh. The day was March eleventh, nineteen eighteen. The 6 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: first case of the Spanish flu was reported in the US. 7 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighteen. The H one and one influenza virus 8 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: caused an extremely deadly flu pandemic. It caused at least 9 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: fifty million deaths around the world, making it the deadliest 10 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,200 Speaker 1: pandemic of the twentieth century. On the morning of March eleventh, 11 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: Private Albert Kitchel of the U. S Army went to 12 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: the camp infirmary and Fort Riley, Kansas with a fever. 13 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: By noon, more than one dred soldiers had also reported 14 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: symptoms of fever, sore throat, and headaches. That number increased 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: exponentially over the next week. Many of those soldiers died 16 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,759 Speaker 1: of pneumonia that spring. Their cases are the first known 17 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: ones of the nineteen eighteen flu epidemic. That said, the 18 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: true origin of the Spanish flu is unknown. Army camps 19 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: and prisons around the country began to see cases of 20 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: the deadly flu, and the flu spread to Europe from 21 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,199 Speaker 1: the US. The illness became known as the Spanish influenza 22 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: because it was first officially recognized in Spain, a country 23 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: that was neutral during World War One. That meant that 24 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: the press was not as censored as in other countries, 25 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: so the Spanish media was the first to widely report 26 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: on the spread of the flu in May of nineteen eighteen. 27 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: Once the flu made it across the globe, the number 28 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,279 Speaker 1: of cases only continued to rise, and it spread really 29 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: fast to Russia, China, the Philippines, New Zealand, and places 30 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:58,639 Speaker 1: in North Africa. The virus traveled along international shipping lanes 31 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: and it followed the massive groups of people who had 32 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: to travel due to the war. The overcrowding that was 33 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: ubiquitous under the conditions of war also helped the flu spread. 34 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: But even after the First World War ended in November 35 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: of nineteen eighteen, the pandemic surged on. In fact, flu 36 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: cases increased as soldiers demobilized and people celebrated the war's end. 37 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: Industries declined in public spaces such as movie theaters and 38 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: schools shut down. The Spanish flu had a super high 39 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: fatality rate On top of that, the flu was unusually 40 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,519 Speaker 1: deadly for young adults. There was no vaccine for flu 41 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: infections and no antibiotics to treat bacterial infections related to 42 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: the flu. Though there were initiatives to develop a vaccine, 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: those efforts were not fruitful since researchers were focused on bacterium, 44 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: so the flu was contained through methods like isolation, good hygiene, 45 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: wearing masks, disinfectants, and restrictions on public gatherings. Adding to 46 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: the spread in the US was the professional nurses, since 47 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: many were away at military camps and institutions, es stewed 48 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: black nurses. There were three waves of the H one 49 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: and one flu pandemic, with the last occurring during the 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: winter and spring of nineteen nineteen. That last wave subsided 51 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: by the summer, but in the end the virus had 52 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: infected an estimated one third of the world's population. Influenza 53 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: was first isolated in nineteen thirty, showing that the flu 54 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: is caused by a virus rather than a bacterium. Vaccination 55 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: against the flu began in the nineteen thirties, with the 56 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: vaccine becoming more widely available in the following decades. There 57 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: were around six and seventy five thousand deaths due to 58 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighteen flu pandemic in the United States. Though 59 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: the virus that caused the pandemic has been extensively researched, 60 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: it's still unclear why it was so deadly. H one 61 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: and one viruses distantly related to the nineteen eighteen virus 62 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: popped back up in two thousand and nine, caused using 63 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: another pandemic known as the swine flu. I'm Eve Steff 64 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: Coote and hopefully you know a little more about history 65 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you have any burning 66 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: questions or comments, you can leave us a note at 67 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: t d i h C Podcast on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. 68 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: You can also shoot us an email at this Day 69 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: at i heart media dot com. Thanks for listening. I 70 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: hope to see you here again tomorrow. For more podcasts 71 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 1: from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 72 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.