Scrutable

Thanks for the link.

I think possibly the 1918 influenza outbreak in Philadelphia wasn't quite as well-known as lpm thought, and so the point she was trying to make was lost.

I overestimated the audience. Again.

However, given we are in one of the most dramatic events of our lifetimes, I would have expected the majority of members here to have read up about the last global pandemic with books such as Laura Spinney or Gina Kolata, and read David Quammen, and for the illiterate to have at least watched Pandemic on Netflix. Doing just the basics would have left any casual observer with knowledge of the Philadelphia parade. How did people manage to study the principles behind lockdowns without coming across this example and the St Louis comparison?

Even the Daily Mail ran an article about it. It's depressing to realise forum members are less well read than Daily Mail readers, but there you go.

lpm wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 06, 2020 1:07 pm

I overestimated the audience. Again.

I think it was clear enough if read carefully.

The 102 years immediately made me think it must be related to the 1918 pandemic, and "for a noble reason" was suspiciously vague, as if something wasn't an exact match, and the definite figures suggest a historical event. Even knowing nothing more, a google search for "1918 mass gathering" gets a hit on the first page of results for a Washington Post article "In 1918, Philadelphia failed to cancel a war-bonds parade...".

A carefully written article deserves to be read carefully also!