In Boston on this date in 1918, the first case of the deadly Spanish influenza occurred. The disease spread around the world after World War I and killed one percent of the world population, which represented more casualties than the war itself. It was the worst epidemic to occur since the bubonic plague of the 14th century. In the United States, Congress earmarked 1 million dollars for the Public Health Service to hire doctors and help set up infirmaries, though no treatments were effective in curing this dangerous strain of flu virus.

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