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King Alfonso XIII -

King Alfonso XIII was the king of Spain during the outbreak of the 'Spanish' flu. Although the first cases were recorded in the US, the Spanish media reported on their outbreak more than other countries. This lead to an unfair association between Spain and the influenza!

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King Alfonso XIII -

It's said that King Alfonso became seriously ill, and actually spread the flu to Spain’s prime minister! He was quarantined and struggled with the illness for a long period before making a full recovery.

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Amelia Earhart - Amelia Earhart trained as a Red Cross nurse to aid soldiers returning from the trenches during World War I.

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Amelia Earhart -

She caught the flu and had to be hospitalized. She recovered, but was left with chronic sinusitis, which actually went on to affect her flying career.

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Walt Disney -

When he was 16 years old, Walt Disney lied about his age to join the Red Cross Ambulance Corps. He had already been rejected from the military due to his age, so he thought this would be the chance to join the war effort.

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Walt Disney -

He caught the Spanish flu when he was in training, and had to return home to be nursed by his mother. By the time he recovered, his ambulance unit had already shipped out! Lucky for us, he survived the pandemic and the war.

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Gandhi -

Ghandi was 48 years old when the Spanish flu swept through the ashram where he was staying in, this in Gujarat, India.

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Gandhi -

He managed to recover, but India as a whole suffered greatly. Approximately 16 million Indians died from the illness, 6% of the country's population.

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Woodrow Wilson -

Many of that era's world leaders were infected with the flu. US President Woodrow Wilson became ill while attending the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919, shortly after WWI.

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Woodrow Wilson -

He is said to have become confused and feverish during the meetings, and told his physician, “I am feeling terribly bad.” He returned to negotiations after a few days of rest, but many said he never recovered his full strength.

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Kaiser Wilhlem II -

Kaiser Wilhlem II was the last Emperor of Germany and one of the main instigators of WWI. When the flu broke out, he believed it would seriously damage the efforts of the Allied forces.

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Kaiser Wilhlem II -

Unfortunately for him, the Germans were also ravaged by the pandemic, and he himself fell ill. He survived, but abdicated his position shortly afterwards and lost the war.

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King George V -

George V of England was never destined to be king. His elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, was heir to the throne. However, he died suddenly from influenza during an earlier outbreak in 1892.

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King George V -

King George V stepped up to take the throne but caught the Spanish flu during the pandemic 26 years later. But he was luckier than his brother, and managed to recover.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt -

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the outbreak. He caught the flu on a boat when returning to the US from Europe.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt -

His illness was severe and he contracted pneumonia. Many of the other passengers died on the trip. He was so weak when they arrived that he had to be carried off the ship, but he managed to recover later on.

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Georgia O'Keeffe -

Iconic artist Georgia O'Keeffe came down with the flu while she was teaching in Texas. She had a budding romance with married photographer Alfred Stieglitz at the time.

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Georgia O'Keeffe -

He was so worried about her that he insisted that she stay at his New York home with him and his wife to recover. She remained weak for several months but eventually did recover. Unsurprisingly, Stieglitz and his wife divorced and he then married O'Keeffe!

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Edvard Munch -

Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, creator of the famous painting 'The Scream,' had a talent for capturing suffering in his work. When he contracted the Spanish flu in 1919, he actually painted a self-portrait during his illness.

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Edvard Munch -

It was called 'Self-Portrait with the Spanish Flu.' He's wrapped in a dressing gown in what seems to be his bedroom and his face is pale and gaunt. Nevertheless, he fully recovered and lived to the age of 80.

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John Steinbeck -

Author John Steinbeck was a 16-year-old high school student when he came down with the flu. He became severely ill and described getting worse and worse until "the wingtips of angels brushed my eyes."

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John Steinbeck -

A surgeon had to remove one of his ribs to perform a lung surgery that would save his life. He recovered, but had lung problems for the rest of his life.

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Mary Pickford -

Mary Pickford was one of the biggest stars of the silent film era. When she came down with the flu at the age of 27, the progress of her recovery was reported on daily by the newspapers.

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Mary Pickford -

She recovered without incident, but the entertainment industry would suffer greatly due to the forced closure of theaters and cinemas.

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David Lloyd George - David Lloyd George was the prime minister of Great Britain during WWI. He became ill with the flu at the very end of the war, and it's said that he barely survived.

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David Lloyd George -

He was so sick that he was in hospital with a respirator for nine days, and had to be accompanied everywhere by a doctor for a month. His illness was mostly hidden from the press to protect morale.

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Franz Kafka -

Author Franz Kafka was notoriously anxious about his health and incorporated this theme into his work. He began to develop an illness in 1917, which was believed to be the early onset of the tuberculosis that would eventually kill him.

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Franz Kafka -

In 1918, he came down with the Spanish flu. After recovering enough to return to work, he suffered a relapse. He eventually recovered from the flu but battled with tuberculosis until his death in 1924. 

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What next? -

Disease outbreaks have been plaguing humanity since the beginning of time. Check out this list of the worst pandemics in history.

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