Spanish flu in United States in 1918

The epidemic affected the course of history and was a terrifying presence at the of World War I, killing more Americans in a single year than died in battle in World War I, World war II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The second wave of influenza in the United States was triggered in the fall of 1918 by the return troops from Europe. It was appearing among a group of sailors who docked at the Commonwealth Pier in August. And then some of those sailors got sick. On August 28 eight men got the flu. The next day, 58 were sick. By day four, the sick toll reached 81. A week later, it was 119, and that same day t first civilian was admitted to Boston City Hospital sick with flu.

The flu hit Fort Devens, a stone’s throw from Boston. But when the first Fort Devens victim, a soldier of Company B, 42nd Infantry went on sick on the seventh, his illness was diagnosed as cerebrospinal meningitis. Later, overnight, Fort Devens became a scene out of hell.

The Surgeon General of the United States ordered Colonel Victor Vaughan, along with other leading physicians, to inspect and to evaluate conditions at Fort Devens. They were astounded to see for themselves that influenza was spreading like wildfire among the young soldiers.
Spanish flu in United States in 1918

The Boston Globe

Boston Globe, the daily newspaper published in Boston one of the most influential newspaper in the United States.

The four-penny Boston Globe was launched on March 4, 1872, by six Boston businessmen, led by Eben Jordan, founder of the Jordan Marsh department store, who jointly pooled $150,000 in promising a ‘commercial and business journal of the first class’.

The Globe sold by subscription daily for 75 cents a month and three months could be had for two dollars.

By August of the following year, twenty-seven-year old Civil War veteran Charles H. Taylor became business manager. At the time, Boston Globe had 10 newspapers in publication. Under his leadership, it began publishing morning and evening editions, increased local and regional coverage and introduced big headlines, especially on sensational stories.

Taylor’s son William became the Globe’s publisher in 1921 after his father’s death. In the 20th century, the paper began providing more national and international news while maintaining generally liberal editorial stance.

The Globe received its first Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for its investigative reporting in the qualification of a federal district court judge.

The Taylor family owned and operated the Globe until 1993, when the New York Times Company acquired the paper for $1.1 billion.
The Boston Globe