A flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 by infecting horses

https://theconversation.com/how-a-flu-virus-shut-down-the-us-economy-in-1872-by-infecting-horses-150052

by respinal • 6 years ago

83 7 6 years ago

superkuh• 6 years ago

And without horses the firemen that might have prevented the Great Boston Fire of 1872 weren't able to move very quickly.

mncharity• 6 years ago

Trains refused to stop at some cities where depots overflowed with undelivered goods.

I've heard it described as a rail-and-horse system, with a rail network connecting hubs, and horse last miles.

chrisbrandow2• 6 years ago

I read or heard something about this recently in connection with some etymological deep dive someone was doing. I can’t remember any details, unhelpfully.

PEJOE• 6 years ago

Please try to make comments that add to the conversation

TacticalMalice• 6 years ago

You are probably thinking of On the Origin of “Oops!”: The Language and Literature of Animal Disease by Ray Malewitz claiming it came a gradual shortening of the word “ooperzootics” (epizooty, a disease affecting many animals at the same time) to “oops” between 1872 and 1921.

https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/origin-word-%E2%80%98oops...

chrisbrandow2• 6 years ago

Yes!! That was it!

offRamGiG• 6 years ago

Reminds of what horses did for us and what we do to them. Thanks for the great article.

A flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 by infecting horses

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