Posted in History World War I

Omaha’s Wartime Charcoal Boom

War has a way of reviving old industries. In 1918, as World War I reshaped American manufacturing and pushed prices skyward, charcoal burning suddenly became…

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Posted in History World War I

Americans Urged to Hold Nutting Parties to Win the War

During World War I, even the smallest scraps from the kitchen table could become weapons of defense. In 1918, Americans were urged to save fruit…

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Posted in History World War I

Reims Schoolchildren Wore Gas Masks to Class

In the winter of 1916, the children of Reims, France, went to school under conditions that seem almost impossible to imagine. German shells were falling…

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Posted in History World War I

Firsthand Accounts of the Horror of Poison Gas in World War I

The First World War had already introduced the world to horrors on a scale few could have imagined, but in 1915, a new terror drifted…

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Posted in History World War I

Deadly Gas Attack Hits American Trenches

In the winter of 1918, American troops in France were still adjusting to the brutal realities of trench warfare. The battlefield was not only a…

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