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430
Smallpox
Smallpox killed more than 30,000 people in Athens, Greece. You can get it through skin to skin contact or through contact with body fluids. -
Jan 1, 1000
Early Smallpox Inoculation
The son of a Chinese statesman was said to have been inoculated against smallpox, probably by having powder from pulverized smallpox scabs blown into his nostril. Inoculation may also have been practiced by scratching matter from a smallpox sore into the skin. -
Jan 1, 1091
Smallpox Reintroduced to Europe by Crusaders
New waves of smallpox were reintroduced to Europe by the Crusaders, who wanted to recapture the Holy Lands from the Arabs between A.D. 1096 and 1291. -
Jan 1, 1519
Smallpox Epidemic in Mexico
There were approximately 25 million people living in what is now called Mexico when Hernando Cortes arrived in 1519. A smallpox epidemic killed between 5 and 8 million of the native population in the following two years. Over the next century, less than 2 million would survive this and other communicable diseases brought by European explorers. -
Jan 1, 1545
Smallpox in India
Some 8,000 children died in Goa, India, from a smallpox epidemic most likely introduced by the Portuguese. -
Treatment for Smallpox
Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689), a noted English doctor, had observed that the rich seemed to have a higher mortality rate from smallpox than the poor. This led him to conclude that contemporary medical treatments, largely inaccessible to the poor, might be more harmful than helpful in mild smallpox cases. -
Smallpox in Massachusetts
Smallpox reached Massachusetts in 1633, brought by settlers from France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. It quickly spread to the Native American population, which had up until now been free of this communicable disease. It’s unclear how many were killed by smallpox, though historians estimate some 20 million may have died after the Europeans landed. -
George Washington ordered Troops for inoculation
George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, ordered mandatory inoculation for troops if they had not survived a smallpox infection earlier in life. -
Andrew Jackson gets Smallpox
Future president Andrew Jackson got Smallpox at ther age of 14. -
Smallpox in Boston
A smallpox epidemic in Boston infected 1,500 people in 1901. There were 270 reported deaths.
