When the world fell silent (follow to purchase)
I just finished reading this fascinating historical novel about The Halifax Explosion by Donna Jones Alward. On 6 December 1917, the explosives-laden SS Mont-Blanc and SS Imo collided in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, causing a massive explosion, a tidal wave, and fires. Nearly 2,000 people died and thousands more were injured in the largest man-made explosion (until the nuclear bombs). 206 people were blinded mainly from the window glass in their homes. Curious people watched the collision of two ships and the subsequent fire that set off the explosion. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind was formed on March 18th, 1918 to assist and re-train the blind survivors. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
(The novel is also available on Kindle.)Additional note: the Halifax explosion took place in the middle of the 1st World War when thousands of young Canadians were shipping out to Europe.
It was followed by the virulent Spanish flu, a devastating and previously unknown form of influenza, that struck Canada hard between 1918 and 1920. This international pandemic killed approximately 50,000 people in Canada, most of whom were young adults between the ages of 20 and 40. These deaths compounded the impact of the more than 60,000 Canadians killed in service during the First World War (1914-18).
Inadequate quarantine measures, powerlessness against the illness, and a lack of national coordination between military, political, and public health authorities hindered the efforts of countless doctors, nurses, volunteers, and members of charitable organizations who were risking their lives to ensure that a large number of the ill and their families survived. The Spanish flu was a significant event in the evolution of public health in Canada. It led to the creation of the federal Department of Health in 1919, which established a partnership between the various levels of government and made public health a shared responsibility.
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