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A new politics of remembrance emerged during the COVID pandemic.
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Moving classrooms outside is not a new idea. It’s been done in past disease outbreaks such as tuberculosis and the Spanish flu.
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Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others all had their own cures for the Spanish flu. But some of these may have made things worse.
British runner Albert Hill winning the 800-meter run at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, EI-13 (727)
The IOC was under considerable pressure to host the 1920 games. While a noble goal, it resulted in significant hardships for war-torn Belgium and the athletes themselves.
Spanish Flu spread around the world in 1918 and 1919. At least 20 million died.
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Woolf’s writing about illness defied the establishment’s post-war story of national strength.
Ernest Hemingway, July 1918, American Red Cross Hospital, Milan, Italy.
Buckley, Peter, Ernest, Dial Press, New York, 1978
Hemingway’s response to death and disease was very different from the parody that circulated earlier this year.
The Adoration of the Shepherds by Guido Reni (1642).
Wikimedia
It will always be too early, depending on who you ask, so put up your decorations whenever you want if it makes you happy.
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Masks have a chequered history in western fashion. Some silenced women in the name of beauty, others provoked sexual desire.
Policemen in Seattle, Washington, wearing masks made by the Red Cross, during the influenza pandemic, December 1918.
National Archives
As the US battled the 1918 influenza pandemic, some communities staged contentious battles against wearing masks. Sound familiar?
Donald Trump is no Winston Churchill and the coronavirus pandemic is not like a world war.
(AP Photo/Tim Ireland)
It’s always dangerous to put present-day events into historic perspectives. That’s especially true when political leaders have compared the coronavirus pandemic to a war effort.
A list of rules from the U.S. Public Health Service in 1918 to reduce the chances of contracting or spreading the devastating flu pandemic.
Getty Images / Fototeca Storica Nazionale
How politicians and the public in Denver, Colorado handled the 1918 flu epidemic is relevant to today.
Dan Peled/AAP Image
Australia’s island identity and attitude to border security was forged from handling pandemics since the time of federation. Here’s what we’ve learned along the way.
Gravediggers in Brazil’s Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, exhume old graves to make way for more victims of COVID-19.
Sebastiao Moreira/EPA
Plagues and flu pandemics of the past have led to long-term disadvantages for those affected, and increased prejudice.
The World Health Organization estimates that 117 million people worldwide may have missed a vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Children may have fallen behind on their vaccination schedules during the pandemic, increasing the risk that COVID-19 may be followed by outbreaks of once-eradicated diseases.
National Museum of Australia
There are many similarities between Spanish flu and coronavirus, from school closures to mask debates. The story of 1919 also shows governments face choices that can have a terrible cost in lives.
A bottle of Covid Organics, a herbal tea that authorities in Madagascar gave to students.
Photo by Rijasolo/AFP via Getty Images
Authorities around the world can do more to ensure that correct information and messages on the pandemic reach everybody.
Cushing/Whitney Medical Library
Some 1,500 years ago, the Plague of Justinian spread via ships from North Africa to Europe and Asia, killing up to 50 million people.
Red Cross nurses in San Francisco, 1918.
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Over 30 countries today are making people wear masks in public, despite serious doubts from scientists.
Economists are using models to try to determine what short- and long-term impacts the coronavirus pandemic will have on the global economy.
(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
As countries get ready to re-open their economies, will there be a post-pandemic recovery? History and current economic models suggest those looking for a quick rebound will be disappointed.
The Trump administration was not alone with its slow response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Getty Images / White House Pool
Human beings have difficulty assessing distant threats.