-
460 BCE
Hippocrates was born
-
Observationes Medicae published by Thomas Sydenham
Thomas Sydenham recorded his observations about diseases. He believed in empirical approaches for medicine by using experiences and detailed observations. Because of his beliefs, he did not let the current disease theories affect how he described diseases. Thomas was able to identify and describe different diseases based on his observations. His observations are published in Observationes Medicae (Merrill, 2021). -
The Diseases of Workers published by Bernardino Ramazzini
Bernardino Ramazzini, the father of occupational medicine, observed that people with certain jobs had a higher risk for diseases. Bernardino found that workers were likely to get certain diseases from working in unsafe environments with harmful materials like lead and mercury. He also thought workers would get certain diseases from doing irregular movements and being in unnatural positions (Merrill, 2021). -
Scurvy experimental study on the HMS Salisbury
James Lind observed how sailors would get scurvy while being at sea for at least a month. James observed how sailors had poor quality diets at seas, so he decided to do a clinical experiment. Men with scurvy were assigned into different groups. Then they would be given a certain food to add to their diet based on what group they were assigned. James discovered that oranges and lemons cured scurvy (Merrill, 2021). -
A Treatise on Scurvy published by James Lind
James Lind, a naval surgeon, identified scurvy’s symptoms and wrote about scurvy in A Treatise on Scurvy. Some symptoms of scurvy include weakness, fatigue, and bleeding gums. Scurvy is a disease from having a deficiency of vitamin C (Merrill, 2021). -
Edward Jenner created vaccine for smallpox
-
Ignaz Semmelweis observed high childbed fever death rates
-
John Snow studied a cholera epidemic in the Golden Square of London
John Snow is known as the father of epidemiology. John created a spot map that plotted where people had died from cholera to help identify the source of the outbreak. From the spot map, he discovered the Broad Street pump to be the cause of the cholera outbreak since the pump was closest to where most deaths occurred. He took the handle off of the Broad Street pump, and the rates of cholera started dropping immediately (Merrill, 2021). -
Report of the Sanitary Commission of Massachusetts published by Lemuel Shattuck
The first report on sanitization and public health problems was the Report of the Sanitary Commission of Massachusetts. In the report, Lemuel Shattuck discussed the importance of creating state and local health boards. The report also discussed the importance of collecting public health information (Merrill, 2021). -
Hygiene and Public Health published by A. H. Buck
Hygiene and Public Health was the first significant book about public health. A. H. Buck also included epidemiologic topics in this book. The importance of educating people about public health became more popular during this time (Merrill, 2021). -
Louis Pasteur creates vaccine for anthrax
-
T. K. Takaki eradicated beriberi from Japanese navy
Beriberi is a life-threatening disease that was eradicated from the Japanese navy by changing their diet. T. K. Takaki, a naval surgeon, discovered that eating vegetables, fish, and meat with rice instead of just rice eliminated beriberi. A diet low in thiamine is the main cause of beriberi. Because of this, beriberi is more common in places where people mainly eat processed, unenriched white rice in their diet (Merrill, 2021).
