Person

Howard Markel

Bylines

The 1918 Influenza Won't Help Us Navigate This Pandemic

We have no historical precedent for this moment.

by Howard Markel via The Atlantic on August 19, 2021
The Last Time a Vaccine Saved America

Sixty-six years ago, people celebrated the polio vaccine by embracing in the streets. Our vaccine story is both more extraordinary and more complicated.

by Howard Markel via The New Yorker on April 12, 2021
partner

To Save Lives, Social Distancing Must Continue Longer Than We Expect

The lessons of the 1918 flu pandemic.

by Howard Markel, J. Alexander Navarro via Made by History on April 8, 2020
The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Digital Encyclopedia

Stories of the places, the people, and the organizations that battled the American influenza epidemic of 1918-1919.

by Howard Markel, J. Alexander Navarro via University Of Michigan Library on September 19, 2016

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The cover of the book "The Secret of Life"

Heels: A New Account of the Double Helix

How Rosalind Franklin, the crystallographer whose data were crucial to solving the structure of DNA, was written out of the story of scientific discovery.

by Nathaniel Comfort via Los Angeles Review of Books on October 26, 2021

Still from a 1950s animated WHO film featuring a drawing of the globe and an hourglass pointing toward Egypt.

Of Plagues and Papers: COVID-19, the Media, and the Construction of American Disease History

The different ways news media approaches pandemic reporting.

by Abigail Shelton via Clio and the Contemporary on May 1, 2020

President Warren G. Harding against a background of news clippings related to his death.

Why President Warren G. Harding's Sudden Death Sparked Rumors of Murder and Suicide

The commander in chief's unexpected death in office 100 years ago fueled decades of conspiracy theories but was most likely the result of a heart attack.

by Greg Daugherty via Smithsonian on August 1, 2023

Ben Franklin portrait

'I Long Regretted Bitterly, and Still Regret That I Had Not Given It To Him'

Benjamin Franklin's writing about losing his son to smallpox is a must-read for parents weighing COVID-19 vaccines today.

by Olivia B. Waxman via Time on November 2, 2021

Children receiving a vaccine.

Throughout History, Mass Vaccine Rollouts Have Been Beset by Problems

As the country scrambles to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, the process has been hindered by many of the same issues that impeded other mass vaccination rollouts.

by Dugan Arnett via Boston Globe on January 10, 2021

Newspaper scraps from the Flu Pandemic of 1918.

We're Celebrating Thanksgiving Amid a Pandemic. Here's How We Did it in 1918 and What Happened Next.

Many Americans were living under quarantines, and officials warned people to stay home for the holiday.

by Grace Hauck via USA Today on November 24, 2020

Woodrow Wilson wearing a black coat

What Happened When Woodrow Wilson Came Down With the 1918 Flu?

The president contracted influenza while attending peace talks in Paris, but the nation was never told the full, true story.

by Meilan Solly via Smithsonian on October 2, 2020

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