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History of Medicine

By biancarose1594
  • Zacharius Janssen invents the microscope

    Zacharius Janssen invents the microscope

    A Dutch lens maker and his father started experimenting with lenses, putting them in a tube, stacked on each other. The two made an important discovery that the object near the end of the tube appeared larger than it really was, much larger than a magnifying glass made it appear. This was the first compound microscope.
    *No month and/or day recorded
  • William Harvey publishes "An Atomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals"

    William Harvey publishes "An Atomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals"

    The book published by Harvey explained how blood was pumped from the heart throughout the body, then returned to the heart and recirculated.
    *No month and/or day recorded
  • Anton van Leeuwenhoek refines the microscope

    Anton van Leeuwenhoek refines the microscope

    A Dutch lens grinder created single lens microscopes which were more superior than the Janssen compound microscope; Van Leeuwenhoek grinded lenses about a millimeter in diameter that could still magnify several hundred times.
    *No month and/or day recorded
  • Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the alcohol thermometer

    Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the alcohol thermometer

    Fahrenheit, a German scientist, is credited with the invention of the alcohol thermometer, though he was not the one to first invent it. The scientist was a skilled glassblower and was most likely given credit due to the fact that he produced the world's first reliable thermometer.
    *No month and/or day recorded
  • Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the mercury thermometer

    Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the mercury thermometer

    Fahrenheit's mercury thermometer consists of a capillary tube which, after being filled with mercury, is heated to expand the mercury and expel the air from the tube. The tube is then sealed, leaving the mercury free to expand and contract with temperature changes.
    *No month and/or day recorded
  • James Lind discovers citrus fruits prevent scurvy

    James Lind discovers citrus fruits prevent scurvy

    While it had already been known that lime juice was beneficial to scurvy, Lind experimented with 12 men on his ship--all of which who had scurvy--by changing their diets. The men given oranges and lemons made remarkable recoveries, while the men given other food items did not.
    *No month and/or day recorded
  • Edward Jenner creates the smallpox vaccine

    Edward Jenner creates the smallpox vaccine

    Jenner heard tales that dairymaids who suffered through couwpox would not get smallpox, so, on May 14th, he found a young dairymaid with fresh cowpox lesions; using the matter from the girl's lesions, Jenner innoculated an 8-year-old boy.
  • Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope

    Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope

    Unable to feel a patient's heartbeat through his hand, or by pressing his ear to the chest due to the patient's "great degree of fatness," Laennec created the stethoscope. The first stethoscope was a hollow wooden tube, one end would be pressed to the patient's chest, the other end pressed against the doctor's ear.
    *No month and/or day recorded
  • James Blundell performs the first successful human blood transfusion

    James Blundell performs the first successful human blood transfusion

  • Elizabeth Blackwell is first woman to receive a medical degree

    Elizabeth Blackwell is first woman to receive a medical degree

  • Joseph Lister publishes "Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery"

    Joseph Lister publishes "Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery"

  • Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch establish the germ theory of disease

    Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch establish the germ theory of disease

  • First vaccine for cholera

    First vaccine for cholera

  • First vaccine for anthrax

    First vaccine for anthrax

  • Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross

    Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross

  • First vaccine for rabies

    First vaccine for rabies

  • Emil von Behring discovers and makes use of antitoxins

    Emil von Behring discovers and makes use of antitoxins

  • Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovers X-rays

    Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovers X-rays

  • First vaccine for typhoid fever

    First vaccine for typhoid fever

  • Ronald Ross demonstrates that malaria parasites are transmitted via mosquitoes

    Ronald Ross demonstrates that malaria parasites are transmitted via mosquitoes

  • First vaccine for plague

    First vaccine for plague

  • Felix Hoffman develops aspirin

    Felix Hoffman develops aspirin

  • Marie Curie isolated radium

    Marie Curie isolated radium

  • Insulin first used to treat diabetes

    Insulin first used to treat diabetes

  • First vaccine for diptheria

    First vaccine for diptheria

  • First vaccine for pertussis

    First vaccine for pertussis

  • First vaccine for tuberculosis

    First vaccine for tuberculosis

  • First vaccine for tetanus

    First vaccine for tetanus

  • Alexander Flemming discovers penicillin

    Alexander Flemming discovers penicillin

  • First vaccine for yellow fever

    First vaccine for yellow fever

  • First vaccine for typhus

    First vaccine for typhus

  • Bernard Fantus starts the first blood bank

    Bernard Fantus starts the first blood bank

  • Selman A. Waksman discovers streptomycin

    Selman A. Waksman discovers streptomycin

  • First vaccine for influenza

    First vaccine for influenza

  • Paul Zoll develops the first cardiac pacemaker

    Paul Zoll develops the first cardiac pacemaker

  • Jonas Salk develops the first polio vaccine

    Jonas Salk develops the first polio vaccine

  • James Watson and Francis Crick describe the structure of the DNA molecule

    James Watson and Francis Crick describe the structure of the DNA molecule

  • Dr, Joseph E. Murray performs the first kidney transplant

    Dr, Joseph E. Murray performs the first kidney transplant

  • First oral polio vaccine

    First oral polio vaccine

  • First vaccine for measles

    First vaccine for measles

  • First vaccine for mumps

    First vaccine for mumps

  • Dr. Christiaan Bernard performs the first human heart transplant

    Dr. Christiaan Bernard performs the first human heart transplant

  • First vaccine for rubella

    First vaccine for rubella

  • First vaccine for chicken pox

    First vaccine for chicken pox

  • First vaccine for pneumonia

    First vaccine for pneumonia

  • First test-tube baby is born

    First test-tube baby is born

  • First vaccine for meningitis

    First vaccine for meningitis

  • WHO announces smallpox is eradicated

    WHO announces smallpox is eradicated

  • First vaccine for hepatitis B

    First vaccine for hepatitis B

  • HIV is identified

    HIV is identified

  • First vaccine for hepatitis A

    First vaccine for hepatitis A

  • Dolly the sheep is first mammal cloned

    Dolly the sheep is first mammal cloned

  • First vaccine for lyme disease

    First vaccine for lyme disease

  • Scientists find new ways to create stem cells

    Scientists find new ways to create stem cells

  • Rhazes discovers smallpox

    Rhazes discovers smallpox

    In 1910, Rhazes provided the first medical description of smallpox--rash, progressing to pus-filled blisters, able to result in disfiguration, blindness, and death--and described that it transmitted from person to person.
    *No month and/or day recorded