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==Modern Developments==
[[File:Distancing.png|thumbthumbnil|250px|left|Figure 2. Death rates comparing Philadelphia and St. Louis in the 1918 flu pandemic.]]
Perhaps something approaching current practices of social distancing, without implying class-based differences, is first evident in New York's polio outbreak in 1916. More than 2000 people died in New York from polio and the city took widespread social distancing guidelines to limit the outbreak. This included closing movie theatres, meetings were either limited or cancelled, various public gatherings were outlawed, and children were told to avoid water fountains and pools, limiting their contact with even parks and playgrounds. The response was relatively effective, as the death toll was limited relative to the threat.<ref>For more on the 1916 polio outbreak, see: Oshinsky, D.M., 2005. <i>Polio: an American story</i>. Oxford University Press, Oxford ; New York.</ref>
