The Spanish Flu Pandemic

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

Gary Arndt

History, Education

4.7 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1918, as the world was nearing the end of the First World War, another disaster was already spreading across the globe. It was so lethal that someone could be dead within a single day after seeing the first symptoms. It moved through army camps, cities, ships, and villages, infecting hundreds of millions and killing more people than the war itself. Despite the best efforts at the time, no one knew how to stop it. Learn more about the Spanish Flu and its terrible impact on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Newspapers.com Honor the past by uncovering its stories at Newspapers.com Promo Code EVERYTHINGEVERWHERE Samsara Don’t wait for the next accident to take action. Head to Samsara.com/EVERYTHING ButcherBox Get your choice between chicken breast or top sirloin for a year OR ground beef for life, PLUS $20 off when you go to ButcherBox.com/everything Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Save 50% on Unlimited premium wireless plans starting at $15/month at MintMobile.com/EED Audible Listen to Project Hail Mary Audible.com/hailmary Fast Growing Trees Get 20% off your first purchase when using the code DAILY at checkout at fastgrowingtrees.com/daily Subscribe to the podcast! https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Ds7Rx7jvPJ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In 1918, as the world was nearing the end of the First World War, another disaster was spreading across the globe.
0:06.6	It was so lethal that someone could be dead within a single day after seeing the first symptoms.
0:12.2	It moved through army camps, cities, ships, villages, infesting hundreds of millions and killing more people than the war itself.
0:20.6	And despite the best efforts of the time, no one knew how to stop it.
0:24.7	Learn more about the Spanish flu and its terrible impact on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Some follow the noise.
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1:35.1	The Spanish fluf pandemic of 1918 to 1920 was one of the deadliest disease outbreaks in human history. It first appeared in Camp Funston, Kansas, where the first cases were reported
1:40.7	in late February of 1918. By early March, the virus had hospitalized more than a thousand soldiers.
1:47.6	The outbreak completely befuddled camp doctors. Epidemic diseases rarely forced healthy young adults into hospital beds.
1:55.6	The doctor's explanation reflected their confusion. The camp housed hundreds of horses and the staff typically
2:02.4	disposed of their waste by fire. On March 9th, a fierce dust storm ravaged Haskell County, Kansas,
2:09.1	the same day soldiers planned to burn the horse manure. The first soldiers fell ill on March 11th,
2:15.2	reporting flu-like symptoms and intense respiratory distress.
2:19.1	By mid-March, nearly 1,100 had succumbed to the illness.
	...

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