Born in 1898 to Irish immigrants living in New Haven, Timothy Francis Ahearn was still a teenager when he enlisted in the 102d Infantry Division — famously known as the Yankee Division owing to the New England origins of most of its men — and was deployed overseas to fight the Germans during World…
Tag: world war i
October 14: Hartford Official Pushes for Lockdown As 1918 Influenza Pandemic’s Second Wave Takes Hold
Today in 1918, as the second wave of a deadly and highly contagious influenza pandemic spread rapidly throughout Connecticut, Hartford city leaders debated taking drastic action to minimize greater public exposure. To many Americans, the misnamed Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918 – 1919 was just as — if not more — terrifying than the…
September 29: The USS Connecticut Stars in America’s Debut as a World Power
Today in 1904, the USS Connecticut was launched as the flagship of a new class of heavy battleships intended to show off a new era of American naval dominance in the early 20th century. These battleships were the hallmark of President Theodore Roosevelt’s signature initiative to modernize the American navy. The USS Connecticut, a…
August 27: “Substance X” Leads To the Nation’s First Chemotherapy Treatment
Today in 1942, physicians at Yale University made medical history as they administered the first use of intravenous chemotherapy as a cancer treatment in the United States. This medical milestone was the culmination of top-secret experiments aimed at defending against the horrors of mustard gas that a handful of Yale doctors conducted for the…
August 7: Connecticut Grinds to an Angry Halt
Today in 1919, Connecticut companies throughout the state were effectively shuttered as thousands of workers across a multitude of different industries joined in a massive regional strike that, within the course of a week, spread from Maine to New York and brought New England commerce to a screeching halt. Connecticut, like many other states…
June 19: Connecticut Troops Sent to Guard the Mexican Border
In June 1916, while the horrors of the Great War in Europe remained an ocean away, President Woodrow Wilson confronted a more immediate threat along the United States’ border with Mexico. Earlier that year, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa had led a deadly raid into New Mexico that left an American town destroyed. In response,…
June 5: Mandatory “Registration Day” for Service in the Great War.
The United States’ entry into World War I on April 6, 1917 marked the end of a long period of military non-intervention, resulting in a scramble to recruit men to fill the ranks of America’s army and navy to fight the enemy in Europe. After a national volunteer recruitment drive only attracted a fraction…
May 19: Wallingford’s World War I Flying Ace Killed In the Skies Over France
Today in 1918, one of America’s greatest and most colorful World War I flying aces was killed in France. Raoul Lufbery, a proud Franco-American and former Wallingford resident, died after his plane was fired on by a German triplane during an aerial dogfight. Born in France in 1885 to a French mother and American…
April 20: Green Connecticut Troops Fight Germany’s Best at WWI Battle of Seicheprey
Today in 1918, a division of new Connecticut recruits encountered their first taste of modern warfare in a small village in northeastern France. In that battle, they repelled a regiment of elite German troops and held the front lines against overwhelming odds. The US 26th Infantry Division, nicknamed the Yankee Division because its regiments…
April 11: How the Subs Got to Groton
<p Today in Connecticut history, Naval Submarine Base New London — the home of the United States submarine force — was first established as a navy yard and storage depot. In 1868, several towns in Southeastern Connecticut jumped at the chance to host a naval installation in their area, pooling their resources to offer the…
April 7: Thousands Rally to Show Support for WWI
Today in 1917, citizens of Hartford thronged the streets in a “mass patriotic meeting” to show support for America’s formal entry into World War I. The Great War had been raging in Europe for three years, but the United States had been extremely reluctant to join the fight against the Germans. American resistance to…
April 2: The Deadly Flu Pandemic of 1918-1919 Hits Connecticut
Today in 1919, the medical paper “Complications of Influenza” was read to a desperately worried Hartford County Medical Society, which feared a renewed outbreak of a devastating global flu pandemic that had first reared its ugly head in Connecticut nearly 12 months before. This strain of flu – commonly called “Spanish influenza” though it had originated…