1918’s lessons for a pandemic Halloween

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By Lily Rothman

Senior Editor

Halloween is well established as a moment for mischief—but sometimes the stakes are higher than usual. Case in point: this year’s festivities, which will be curtailed by the public health concerns that come with COVID-19. Whether celebrants adhere to those guidelines remains to be seen, and history suggests that it may be difficult to get people to skip large gatherings for the holiday.

That was just one of the lessons that TIME’s Olivia B. Waxman came away with when she dove into an archive of newspaper articles from 1918, when Halloween fell during what wound up being the 20th century’s deadliest flu pandemic. Click here to learn more.

Here’s more of the history that made news this week:

HISTORY ON TIME.COM

As COVID-19 Slams Retail, Remember the Origin of Shopping Malls

By Sam Wetherell

As COVID-19 tears through the social fabric of the U.S., shopping is becoming increasingly uncoupled from urban space

What to Know About America's History of Contested Elections

By Olivia B. Waxman

The history of Presidential elections taking more than a vote to resolve goes back to the country's earliest days—and holds lessons for now

Much of What We Thought About Neanderthals Was Wrong. Here's Why That Matters

By Rebecca Wragg Sykes

Modern archaeology paints a truly compelling portrait of our oft-misunderstood relatives

#EndSARS and the History of Nigeria's Failed Police Reform

By Andrew R. Chow

Nigeria's government has a long history of promising police reform. Here's what to know about that past—and whether this time is different

From Encyclopedias to Telephone Books, How Alphabetization Took Over the Modern World

By Judith Flanders

Alphabetical order became invisible because it was so routine

FROM THE TIME VAULT

Today in 1965: Bill Moyers

“In the White House, the President has used his young aide as an organizer and expediter, speech editor and legislative coordinator. In times of trouble, the President has called on him repeatedly to take on new and ever more demanding responsibilities. Most of Moyers' work was done behind the scenes until, in another crisis last July, he stepped in to fill the vacant office of White House press secretary. Thus, it was not until the most recent emergency, the President's gall-bladder operation, that Moyers' smooth, owlish, utterly earnest face finally became familiar on the nation's TV screens. Day after day, Americans watched in fascination as Moyers read the complex, meticulously detailed summaries of President Johnson's operation and convalescence.” (Oct. 29, 1965)

Today in 1956: Maria Callas

“‘In the opera house teamwork is the cry. Manhattan's Metropolitan Opera even forbids solo curtain calls. At home the opera star is often no more glamorous than a suburban housewife. In an age of small-scale talent and matching egos, the one diva who truly deserves the proud title of prima donna, with all its overtones of good and evil, is Maria Meneghini Callas." (Oct. 29, 1956)

Today in 1951: Graham Greene

“It was one of those London cocktail parties where everybody showed up with a hangover. The host, a distinguished novelist named Graham Greene, roamed restlessly about his book-cluttered flat, listening to the mock-tragic tales of woe. Not to be outdone, the host confessed that he too was feeling like hell: he had been up all night drinking with his priest. It was the kind of shocker characteristic of Graham Greene—the kind of remark that induces a slight creeping of the flesh (although on this occasion it may be doubted whether the effect was either intended or achieved). Graham Greene deals in shockers.” (Oct. 29, 1951)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WEB

Sea and Be Seen For The Guardian, Laura Trethewey has the story on how scientists are using a surprising Victorian hobby—seaweed collecting—to gather data about the health of our oceans.

Split Vote Following the Supreme Court confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, Gillian Brockell at the Washington Post looks back to the story of the last Justice whose confirmation vote fell along strict party lines.

Chickening Out Lots of people love peri peri chicken—a spicy preparation with a global background—but probably don’t know how it came to be. Brian Reinhart at Texas Monthly is here to change that.

Gallery View For Black History Month in the U.K., the BBC’s Huw Thomas reports on how National Museum Wales has decided to deal with a portrait of Welsh slave-owner Sir Thomas Piction.

Academic Uproar After former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized modern history departments in a Q&A about her new job as head of Stanford’s Hoover Institution, Evan Cheng at the Stanford Daily gathered reactions from historians.