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People Quarantined Throughout History
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People Quarantined Throughout History

Times of quarantine and isolation can give you the freedom to put your brains and talents to work however you want. Or, it can be a time of debilitating difficulties. Here are some people in history who were amazingly productive during quarantine.

We're the Apollo 11 Astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. We landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. Before we took off, though, we were put in quarantine to make sure we didn't take any Earth bugs with us. Then, when we returned, we were quarantined again in case we had picked up some sort of moon plague.

Apollo 11 Astronauts

Videos

The Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight

Apollo 11: First Moon Landing

Apollo 11: Before and After

Modern Marvels: Apollo 11

Journey to Space: Moon landing Apollo 11

I'm Mary Shelley and I created a monster while I was isolated. In 1815 there was a cholera epidemic. I traveled to Geneva, Switzerland where things were not much better than home in London. I was forced to spend many dreary days inside. During this time I wrote the book Frankenstein, which turned out to be quite successful.

Mary Shelley

Ebooks

Frankenstein

Life with Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley in her Times

The Other Mary Shelley Beyond Frankenstein

Videos

Mary Shelley: The Birth of Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Context and Background.

I'm Edvard Munch, most famous for my painting the scream. I was quarantined in Norway in 1919 with the Spanish Flu. During that time, I painted a few self portraits. I wanted to portray the ravaging effects of this terrible illness.

Edvard Munch

Ebooks

Munch

Edvard Munch Behind the Scream

The Private Journals of Edward Munch: We are Flames Which Pour Out of the Earth

Edvard Munch

Videos

Edvard Munch Ashes

Edvard Munch Four Girls on a Jetty

In 1965, when I was going to Cambridge University, the bubonic plague struck. Classes were cancelled so I went home to my family. I was very busy during this period, writing a paper that laid the foundation for calculus. I also experimented with light. And, I observed apples falling from a tree outside my window. Why did they always go down? Why not up? Or sideways?

Isaac Newton

Ebooks

The Life of Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton, Adventurer in Thought

The Life of Isaac Newton

The Newton Papers: The Strange and True Odyssey of Isaac Newton’s Manuscripts

Sir Isaac Newton: The Gravity of Genius

Videos

Isaac Newton: The Last Magician

The bubonic plague was raging in 1606. Much death and tragedy befell London that year and the theaters were closed. Since I had no steady employment, I went into isolation and wrote. People surmise that I wrote King Lear and possibly Macbeth during that period and they are likely correct. They are dark lays affected by those dark days.

William Shakespeare

Ebooks

Beginning Shakespeare

Shakespeare

Doing Shakespeare

Videos

Shakespeare: The Legacy

Shakespeare’s World

Article

Multicultural Shakespeare

They call me Typhoid Mary but Mary Mallon's my name. They say I was a carrier of Typhoid Fever but I was never sick a day in my life! I was a fine cook but everyone I cooked for seemed to get sick. They put me in isolation on an island twice. The second time was for 23 years - 'til my death in 1938.

Typhoid Mary

Articles

Mary “Typhoid Mary” Mallon, 1869-1938

Mary Mallon

Typhoid Fever

Learning from Typhoid Mary

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