h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Spanish flu made most of them forget about lice. The flu killed more than were killed by weapons during that awful time

More American troops died in a scarlet fever epidemic during basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina than were ever deployed inn the European theater.




Lore of body lice, when the Inca extended their empire to include the region of the ancient city of Tihuanaco and Lake Titicaca, having surveyed the region for resources, the fixed upon a tax on the Lake dwellers of the region in the amount of a hollow reed to be filled with body lice, to be paid annually.

Now that's one for the useless facts thread, if ever there was one!

Although now you've got our interest - do you know any more about it?

"More American troops died in a scarlet fever epidemic during basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina than were ever deployed inn the European theater." [ITIWBS]

Te meaning of that is unclear. It *could* mean that hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers died in Fort Jackson from scarlet fever, which begs the question of how all those soldiers would fit in one fort.

Or, you could have meant that, of a few hundred troops training there at the time,more than half died of scarlet fever.

Which was it?