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Sep 26, 1450
Printing Press Invented
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Period: Jan 1, 1501 to
First scientific study of human anatomy published
Leonardo Da Vinci and Adreas Vesalus dissected human bodies to better understand the human body and how it works. Leonardo Da Vinci made the first anatomical drawings. -
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Circulation of Blood described
During the Seventeenth Century William Harvey was the first to describe how blood circulates to and from the heart. He also described pumping of the heart. -
First Mercury Thermometer Invented
The first modern mercury thermometer was created by Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1714 and are still used today. These thermometers used his newly developed Fahrenheit Scale which made measuring and recording temperature more accurate. -
Smallpox Vaccination Developed
The smallpox vaccination was developed by Edward Jenner in 1796. He tested it on a young boy, who never got smallpox. -
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Pasteurization First Used
During the 19th century, Louis Pasteur developed a method to prevent the growth of bacteria by heating milk. This method was named Pasteurization and is used today. -
Stethescope Invented
Rene Laennec invented the stethescope in 1816. It helps a doctor diagnose chest conditions by listening to the heart and lungs. It was the new alternative to putting your ear up against a patients chest. -
First Anesthetic Used
Ether was the first anesthetic used in surgery to make it painless. It was first used in 1842 by Crawford Williamson Long during surgery on James Venable. -
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Identified Disease Causing Organisms
During his lifetime in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries, Robert Koch became the "Father of Microbiology." He developed the culture plate method to identify pathogens and discovered several disease-causing organisms including anthrax, tuberculosis, and cholera. -
First Woman Qualifies as a Doctor
In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the U.S. to earn a medical degree and qualify as a doctor -
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Patterns of Heredity Established
In the 1850's and 1860's Gregor Mendel studied Genetics by looking at Pea Plants. He discovered traits in heredity -
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Freud Studies the Mind
During his life in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Sigmund Freud studied psychology and psychiatry and. He determined that the mind and body worked together. -
Civil War Began
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First Antiseptics and Disinfectants Used During Surgery
Joseph Lister was the first to use chemicals to kill germs to avoid infection during surgery. He used these antiseptics on his hands, tools, his bandages, and his patients. After testing his theory for a few years, he published his findings in 1867 -
American Red Cross Founded
The American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton in 1881. It is an organization that helps with disasters and emergencies. Clara Barton was known as the "Angel of the Battlefield" during her work aiding soldiers during the Civil War. In 1869 she traveled to Europe and learned of the International Red Cross. Whens she returned, she campaigned for a Red Cross in the United States and eventually headed it for 23 years. -
Rabies Vaccination Discovered
The first Rabies vaccine was used on a human in 1885. Louis Pasteur is credited with the discovery which proved microorganisms caused disease -
X-Rays Discovered
In 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-Rays. His first X-Rays were of his wife's hand. This was a major discovery in medicine because it allows doctors to see inside the body to see what is wrong with a patient. -
Major Blood Types Identified
Sometime in the early 1900's, the major blood typoes were identified. They were O, A, B, and AB. Karl Landsteiner is credited with discvoering, the first three (O,A, and B). Alfred von Decastello and Adriano Sturli found AB. -
Radium is Isolated
Marie Curie isolated pure, metallic Radium in 1910. Radium has radioactive properites and was used in medicine for radiation in cancer patients -
WWI Began
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WWI Ended
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Penicillin Discovered
Penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928. He left a culture plate filled with the bacteria Staphyloccus out. A mold was growing on top the bacteria and he discovered that there was a ring around the mold where the bacteria had dissolved. The mold was Penicillin notatum, which was eventually named Penicillin. Years later, more research was done to isolate the substance in the mold that killed the bacteria. It was one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century. -
WWII Began
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WWII Ended
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First Polio Vaccination Developed
In 1952, Jonas Salk developed and tested the first successful Polio vaccine. -
Oral Polio Vaccine Developed
Albert Sabin created an oral vaccination for polio and began testing it in 1958. It was more effective than the injected vaccine that Jonas Salk created and became the preferred method. -
First Heart Transplant
Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant surgery in 1967 in Cape Town, South Africa. The operation was performed on a 53 year old man named Louis Washkansky who suffered from Diabetes and a heart disease. He was given the heart from a 25 year old woman who was in a car crash. The procedure took 9 hours and about 30 people. The drugs he was given kept his body from rejecting the organ and made the surgery a success. The drugs weakened his immune system and he died 18 days later -
First Test Tube Baby Born
The baby to be born by in-vitro fertilization was Louise Brown in 1978. Dr. Robert Edwards developed the treatment and Patrick Steptoe performed the procedure -
AIDS Recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
In 1981, the first report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out recognizing AIDS. This was over a century after the first AIDS like cases were identified. -
First Successful Cloning
The first successful attempt at cloning a mammal was achieved in 1997. Dolly the Sheep was made through the process of Tissue Cloning.
