1918 Flu Epidemic

Influenza has been one of the great mass killers in human history and its most lethal version was the Spanish flu epidemic in the fall of 1918.

At least 21 million people died worldwide, more than were killed in the fighting in the First World War. (Some historians say that large numbers of flu deaths went unreported in less developed countries. Recent research has shown that as many as 20 million people could have died in India, raising the death toll to between 40 million and 50 million.)

Soldiers returning home from the trenches at war's end didn't come back alone. They brought with them the flu virus. By the time it had run its course, 50,000 Canadians were dead. Some smaller villages in Quebec and Labrador were almost wiped out.