-
400 BCE
Hippocrates' Medical discovery
The symptoms of human influenza are described by Hippocrates. -
1510
Beginning stages
nfluenza pandemic develops in Asia and proceedes northward to involve North Africa, then all of Europe. Attack rates are extremely high, but fatality is low and said to be restricted to weaker individuals like children and those who were bled. -
Period: 1557 to 1558
Pandemic spreads worldwide
Influenza pandemic spreads westward from Asia to Africa and Europe, then travels aboard European ships across the Atlantic Ocean. Another wave in 1558-59 spreads worldwide with devastating effects. -
life expectancy
United States enters World War I. U.S. life expectancy is 54 years of age for women and 48 years of age for men. -
lifespan drop
Spring and fall waves of influenza (”flu”) activity cause the average life expectancy in the United States to fall by 12 years. -
Death toll- "2nd" wave
This wave is responsible for most of the deaths from the virus, with 12,000 people dying in the U.S. during September. The New York City Board of Health requires that all cases of flu be reported to them and that patients be isolated, either at home or in a hospital. -
US influenza
In the U.S., 28% of the population was infected, and 675,000 people died. Native American tribes and Inuit and Alaskan Native tribes were particularly affected, with entire villages being wiped out. 50,000 Canadians died, while in Brazil, 300,000 died, including the country's president Rodrigues Alves. -
Period: to
Another wave: WW1 edition
In March of 1918, 48 soldiers die of "pneumonia" during a, outbreak at Fort Riley, Kansas. Flu travels unchecked eastward to New England military bases before traveling across the Atlantic Ocean on crowded military ships to Europe amid World War I. It spread rapidly through European cities, and was nicknamed Spanish flu for the uncensored reporting in Spain, as moving armies spread flu around the world. Spanish flu returns in waves for the next 2 years. -
3rd wave of disease
Third wave of pandemic flu activity occurs. Pandemic subsides, but virus (H1N1) continues to circulate seasonally for 38 years. -
Shortage of nurses
195,000 Americans die of the flu in this month alone. There is a severe shortage of nurses because many are serving overseas. The American Red Cross Chicago Chapter issues a call for volunteers to nurse the sick. -
Quarantine signs
the end of the war brings soldiers back home, and more cases of the flu. Officials in Salt Lake City place quarantine signs on the doors of over 2,000 residents who have the flu. -
Death toll "3rd" wave
a third wave of the virus emerges, killing many more people. Between January first and the fifth, San Francisco experiences 1,800 new flu cases, and 101 people die. New York City reports 706 new cases and 67 deaths. -
1920 Pop culture!
What was the most popular music in the 1920s? Music in the 1920s in the United States had variety, to say the least! Jazz, blues, swing, dance band, and ragtime were just a few of the most popular music genres of the decade. -
1920 culture: Flappers
Flappers were a generation of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. -
Research
First isolation of influenza, proving that flu is caused by a virus not a bacterium. -
1930 tech advancements
Radio, increasingly easily accessibly to most Americans, was the main source of entertainment, information, and political propaganda. -
The great depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, beginning in the United States. -
The invention of chocolate chip cookies!
Chocolate chip cookies originated in the United States around 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe. -
Vaccine
The U.S. Public Health Service recommends annual flu vaccination for people at high risk of serious flu complications. -
DNA
Genome of the 1918 pandemic flu virus is fully sequenced
