Original version

BBC World Service East Asia

The History Hour

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The History Hour: The 1957 flu pandemic

Discussion & Talk

The 1957 flu pandemic

02/05/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - The History Hour, The 1957 flu pandemic

A million die in 1957 flu, conflict in the Galapagos islands and trees in Hiroshima.

The flu pandemic which killed a million people in 1957, plus trees from Hiroshima and conflict in the Galapagos islands.

A new strain of flu emerged in East Asia in 1957 and spread all over the world. Known at the time as “Asian flu”, it killed more than a million people. We hear from a woman who survived the virus and speak to Mark Honigsbaum, author of The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria and Hubris. Plus, Indonesia’s transgender rights movement, the assassination of the UN’s first Middle East mediator, conflict in the Galapagos Islands, and the trees that survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

Photo: Americans worried about "Asian flu" wait their turns at Central Harlem District Health clinic in October 1957. Credit: Getty Images

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The History Hour

The 1957 flu pandemic

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East Asia

About BBC World Service