Video: 'Daylight Saving Time Explained'
(Sunday, March 19, 1918) — President Woodrow Wilson today signed the first law establishing daylight saving time in the United States, with clocks to be moved forward one hour from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. Continue reading Wilson signs first law establishing daylight saving time 100 years ago today (Mar 19 1918)
Video: 'Influenza 1918 | PBS American Experience | Documentary 2017' (Mar. 11, 1918, at 6:51)
(Monday, March 11, 1918) — The first documented case of the 1918 flu pandemic, which would kill 50–100 million people worldwide, was made this morning when U.S. Army mess cook Private Albert Gitchell complained of a sore throat, fever and headache today at a hospital at Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas, an American military facility that at the time was training American troops during World War I. Continue reading First case of 1918 flu pandemic documented 100 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 11 1918)
Video: 'The Great War episode 5 Mutiny'(Treaty of Brest-Litovsk at 52:57)
(Sunday, March 3, 1918, 4:00-5:30 p.m. local time) — The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, a peace treaty between the new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), was signed today at the Brest-Litovsk fortress in what is now Brest, Belarus, ending Russia’s participation in World War I and defaulting on all of Imperial Russia’s commitments to the Triple Entente alliance. Continue reading Russia signs separate peace treaty with Central Powers 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 3 1918)
Video: 'American Survivors Of Torpedoed Transport 'tuscania' (1914-1918)'
(Tuesday, February 5, 1918, approximately 6:40 p.m. GMT) — The Cunard liner SS Tuscania, which was transporting about 2,000 American troops to Europe, was torpedoed by a German U-boat tonight in the Irish Sea with the loss of approximately 210 of the troops and crew. Continue reading SS Tuscania torpedoed off Irish coast 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 5 1918)
Video: 'Wilson's 14 Points & League of Nations Explained'
(Tuesday, January 8, 1918, noon EST) — U.S. President Woodrow Wilson outlined his Fourteen Points, a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for negotiations to end World War I, before a joint session of Congress today in Washington, D.C. Continue reading Wilson outlines Fourteen Points for lasting peace 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 8 1918)
(Wednesday, December 12, 1917, 11:15 p.m. CET; during World War I) — A train carrying at least 1,000 French troops on their way home for leave from the Italian front derailed tonight while descending a steep hill in Modane, France, killing at least 700 troops in France’s greatest rail disaster.
Video: 'Boystown Building Families'
(Wednesday, December 12, 1917) — Boys Town, an orphanage for boys, then called the “City of Little Men,” was founded today by Edward J. Flanagan, a Roman Catholic priest, in a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska. Continue reading Father Edward Flanagan establishes Boys Town 100 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 12 1917)
Video: 'GENERAL ALLENBY'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM'
(Tuesday, December 11, 1917, noon local time; during the Battle of Jerusalem, part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I) – British General Edmund Allenby entered Jerusalem today, two days after his forces expelled the Ottoman Turks. Continue reading British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 11 1917)
Video: 'Monongah 1907 Mine Disaster'
(Friday, December 6, 1907, 10:28 a.m. local time) — The worst mining disaster in American history occurred today as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia. Continue reading 362 killed in worst mining disaster in U.S. history 110 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 6 1907)
Video: 'The Halifax Explosion Documentary' (Dec. 6, 1917, at 11:45)
(Thursday, December 6, 1917, 9:04:35 a.m. AST; during World War I) — Some 2,000 people died and another 9,000 were injured today when a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin, setting off a blast that devastated Halifax, Nova Scotia. Continue reading Some 2,000 people die in Halifax Explosion 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 6 1917)
