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Jan 1, 1340
Black Death
Galen coined the word ‘plague’ to describe a quickly spreading fatal disease. He had lived through the Antonine Plague - one of the great epidemics of the ancient world. The Black Death that devastated Europe in the 1340s was just that and more, the most deadly pandemic in recorded history. -
Smallpox
Conquest and colonialism also brought exposure to new medical knowledge. Smallpox inoculation was successfully imported to Britain and America in the early 1700s, a procedure Edward Jenner would subsequently improve with his safer vaccination technique -
First Vaccine
English doctor Edward Jenner discovers the first vaccine -
Bacteria
As an experiment Hungarian doctor Ignaz semmelweis orders doctors at his hospital to wash their hands before treating patients. Deaths from infections plunge, but his idea takes decades to catch on because he never realized that bacteria were the problem. -
Chemotherapy
Ehrlich was a German scientist who won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Although Alexander Fleming is probably better known for his work with antibiotics Ehrilch came up with the idea that chemicals might exist that can kill germs infecting a person, while not killing the person. In a 17 year journey, he developed the first anti microbial drug, using an arsenic compound, to treat syphilis. He also coined the term "chemotherapy" and came up with the concept of a "magic bullet" -
Germs
French chemist Louis Pasteur discovers that bacteria cause illnesses. He calls bacteria "germs" (though modern scientists call them microbes). His germ theory of disease becomes the basis for all disease fighting. -
Many More Vaccines
The polio vaccines were developed by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin in 1952 and 1962 respectively. Other post 1945 vaccines included measles, rubella, chicken pox, hepatitis, lyme disease and anthrax vaccines. -
Influenza
A strong strain of influenza, or flu, kills more than 20 million people world wide. That's about five million more deaths than occur in World War 1, wich ends in the same year -
Penicillium
Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming notices that a mold called Penicillium kills bacteria. This to the discovery of the first antibiotic, wich makes bacterial diseases such as tuberculosis treatable for the first time. -
Antibiotic for Tuberculosis
In 1940 Selman Waksman and H. Boyd Woodruff discovered actinomycin, the first antibiotic obtained from a group of soil organisms called actinomycetes. Tetracycline is also isolated from this group of organisms. In 1944 Waksman discovered streptomycin and within 20 years there would be several antibiotics effective for the treatment of tuberculosis. Waksman was the person to suggest the word "antibiotic" to describe the group of compounds produced by one microorganism that
