A makeshift hospital set up in Brookline, Mass. during the 1918–19 influenza pandemic. Image: National Archives

Frightening Lessons from the 1918 Pandemic and Why History May Repeat

COVID-19 has the advantages of simple math, human overconfidence and Mother Nature’s lack of empathy

On Aug. 27, 1918, two sailors at a pier in Boston came down with Spanish Flu. They were the first people in the United States to be stricken by the virus. Within a week, 100…