War of the Worlds: 5 Facts you didn’t know about the Fake Newscast
On October 30th, 1938, a radio broadcast on the CBS Radio station "The War of the Worlds" supposedly led to widespread panic all over…
Historic Epidemics: The "New Normal" after the Black Death
How could any good come from a pandemic that devastated the known world? Hard to believe, but in the aftermath of the Great Pestilence…
Historic Epidemics: Sweden and the Black Death
This isn't the first time Sweden has reacted differently to a pandemic
Historic Epidemics: the Plague Doctor
The Black Death. The Bubonic plague. The Great Pestilence. The Great Mortality. Whatever name you choose, 60% of the world's population died from it…
Historic Epidemics: The Face-Mask Mandates of 1918
Are masks the answer to getting back to a 'new normal' after COVID19? During the 1918 influenza, the widespread use of masks was a…
Historic Epidemics: The Spanish Flu Didn’t Come From Spain
As we shelter at home and follow the rising numbers of infections and deaths from COVID-19, I have a new understanding and appreciation for…
Historic Epidemics: Malaria in the Vatican 1623
A short-lived illness that left 38 people dead in Italy in 1623 can hardly be called an epidemic of the likes of COVID19 or…
Parrot Fancier’s Fever–Part 2
Bradshaw Crandall, Beautiful Lady with Parrot, circa 1929, Public Domain In my last post, I told about how my youngest daughter contracted an obscure…