In Toronto, the order to close all theatres, moving pictures shows, pool halls and other public gathering places came on Saturday, October 19, 1918.
That fall, Toronto was hit hard by a devastating and previously unknown form of influenza which struck Canada and the rest of the world.
This was the Spanish Flu and it killed approximately 55,000 Canadians. The flu came in three waves, including the Spring of 1918 but it was this second wave which would prove most deadly.
A newspaper clip quoting the then Medical Officer of Health, Charles Hastings: “The epidemic struck Toronto almost like a cyclone, assuming epidemic proportions on or about Oct.