Click for even more facts or download the worksheets & read about the contents of the 1848 and 1875 Public Health Acts. Great for school & home use.

Back in 1964, people smoked cigarettes at work, in restaurants and in grocery stores. Few would have predicted that a report from the U.S. surgeon general would spark a public health revolution that has increased life expectancy in this country by 30 percent.

Dr. Tom Ewing, Professor of History at Virginia Tech offers a comparison of health recommendations during the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918 and today.