Today in History - March 4 | Sick soldier was first of 500 million virus cases
March 4
US soldier Private Albert Gitchell became the first recorded military case of Spanish Flu on March 4, 1918; the start of world wide pandemic that killed 20 million to 50 million people.
Within hours, hundreds of other troops at Gitchell's base in Kansas were reporting similar conditions of a runny nose, sore throat and lethargy.
Later, the Spanish Flu pandemic spread to Europe, carried by American soldiers serving on the front lines of World War I.
HIstorians estimate 500 million - equivalent to one-third of the world's population - were infected by 1919.
The virus proved fatal for many people who had been displaced by World War I and lacked essential foods and medicines.
Spanish Flu peaked in the northern hemisphere autumn of 1918. It is believed the virus reached Australia in 1919, causing up to 15,000 deaths.
Swedish pop group ABBA released Waterloo, the title track and first single from their second album, on March 4, 1974.
Later in the year it won the Eurovision Song Contest, catapulting the group to worldwide fame. Waterloo topped the charts in nine countries.
Former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, right, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent on March 4, 2018, at their home in the UK, triggering an international dispute.
The pair were found unconscious on a park bench close to Sergei Skripal's home in Salisbury, south-west of London.
Police later established the Skripals were likely poisoned with a nerve agent in a targeted murder attempt. About 180 troops trained in chemical warfare and decontamination were deployed to Salisbury to help with the investigation.
The UK government said the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Danish golfer Mianne Bagger became the first transgender person to play in a professional tournament on March 4, 2004, when she teed up in the Women's Australian Open in Sydney.
She went on to become a passionate advocate for transgender athletes.
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