1918: What happened during Ball State’s birth year

<p>Group of men leaving for World War I service in front of the Delaware County Courthouse Wednesday, May 22, 1918, Muncie Ind. WWI led to the deaths of almost 10 million people, 100,000 being Americans. <strong>Ball State University, Photo Provided</strong></p>

Group of men leaving for World War I service in front of the Delaware County Courthouse Wednesday, May 22, 1918, Muncie Ind. WWI led to the deaths of almost 10 million people, 100,000 being Americans. Ball State University, Photo Provided

While 1918 may have been the year of the founding of one of Indiana’s largest universities, it was also the year of flu outbreaks, train wrecks and war.

Spanish Influenza 

The United States was fighting in Europe and the Ball Brothers were putting together their school in Muncie while people within the country and the world were dealing with one of the worst influenza epidemics of all time.

This outbreak led to the deaths of at least 50 million people around the world and killing at least 675,000 people in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The strand of influenza was unusual because instead of killing those of old age, young age and weak immune systems, the disease seemed to kill young, healthy adult men between 20 and 40 years of age. This was because the flu spread throughout military bases.

Indiana was no exception to this plague.

Read the entire story here. 

Contact Andrew Harp with comments at adharp@bsu.edu or on Twitter @adharp24.

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