– World War I, also known as the Great War, the World War, the War of the Nations, and the War to End all Wars, was fought from 1914–1918 on every ocean and on almost every continent.
– The United States entered WWI on April 6, 1917, declaring war on Germany. The action was precipitated by the sinking of the Lusitania.
– More than 65 million men from 30 countries fought in WWI. Nearly 10 million died.
– There were over 35 million civilian and military casualties in WWI. Over 15 million died.
– During WWI, the Spanish flu was responsible for about 1/3 of total military deaths. Illness was the cause of the majority of military deaths in previous human conflicts.
– During WWI, dogs were used as messengers. Capsules were attached to their bodies, to carry orders to the front lines.
– Tanks were initially called landships. The name tank was adopted as an attempt to disguise the vehicles as water storage tanks.
– The trench network of WWI stretched nearly 25,000 miles, from the English Channel to Switzerland.
– Approximately 30 different poisonous gases were used during WWI. At the end of the war, many countries signed agreements to outlaw chemical weapons.
– Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland emerged as independent nations after the war’s end.