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2600 BCE
Imhotep
Imhotep lived in ancient Egypt and was a healer, priest, and architect. He diagnosed 200 diseases and assigned treatments for them. -
Period: 2600 BCE to 400
Ancient Times
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500 BCE
Veins Vs. Arteries
In 500 BC, Alcmaeon of Croton distinguished veins from arteries. He discovered that arteries bring blood from the heart and veins bring blood back to the heart. -
460 BCE
Hippocrates
Hippocrates was born in . In his older life, he treated patients and preformed exams on them. He had a code he went by to keep the patients from necessary harm and to keep their privacy. Hippocrates created the Hippocratic oath which was rewritten in 1964 by Louis Lasagna. -
400 BCE
First Known Anatomy Book
The first anatomy book (that is known) was written by Diocles in 300 BC. Diocles was thought to have been a second to Hippocrates due to his discoveries and work. At the time, he studied anatomy, botany, physiology, and other areas. -
130 BCE
Galen
Galen was a physician that treated gladiators. In his lifetime, he discovered four bodily humors, which are, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. He also gave anatomy demonstrations through dissections in which led him to find the importance of the spinal cord. Galen also preformed tracheotomy to help with breathing difficulties. -
Period: 400 to 1400
Middle Ages
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854
Rhazes
Rhazes, aka al-Razi, was a physician in the Middle Ages (born in 854) and used Hippocrates's work to build off of. He recorded the difference between smallpox and measles. -
1010
The Cannon of Medicine
The Cannon of Medicine is a five volume collection that contains Greek and Arabic medicine. Avicenna wrote this in the second century and the volumes were used until the seventeenth and eighteenth century. -
1088
First Medical School
The first (oldest) medical school is traced back to the University of Bologna - School of Medicine and Surgery. The building was build in 1088 but was used for teaching medicine and surgery in the 1200s. -
1249
Invention of Spectacles
Roger Bacon invented the idea of spectacles through his studies of optics. His studies allowed him to help the future inventors create magnifying glasses, eyeglasses, and even telescopes. Although he never created a lens himself, his discoveries of how lenses would work greatly impacted the future. -
1308
Barber Surgeons
Barber surgeons were surgeons that treated those who were wounded in battle. For example, they conducted amputations and burned the wounds so that the veins would close and not let out as much blood. In 1308, the world's oldest barber organization was established. -
Period: 1400 to
Renaissance
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1543
De Fabrica Corporis Humani
Andreas Vesalius published the first accurate book about human anatomy. He learned anatomy by analyzing corpses that were previously decapitated or executed. -
Microscope
Zacharias Jansenn invented the microscope in 1595. What led to this invention was that he found that two lenses put together made small things appear much larger when looked through the lenses. -
William Harvey
William Harvey wrote the Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood In Animals in 1628. In this, he states his findings, which include his discoveries of the heart and blood. He found out that blood was not made in the liver as previously thought, and he found out that blood pumps and circulates around the body. -
Discovery of Bacteria
Antoni van Leewanhoek discovered bacteria as well as blood cells. He discovered protozoa and used to call the organisms "animalcues." -
Blood Cells Are Discovered
Antoni van Leewanhoek was the first person to describe blood cells in the 1670s. He studied animal blood cells and drew human blood cells first in 1700 and described them as spheres rather than their true shape. -
First Appendectomy
The first successful appendectomy took place in 1735 and was conducted by Claudius Amyand. This was preformed without anesthesia as it wasn't discovered yet. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
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Vaccines Were Invented
In 1796, Edward Jenner discovered that those exposed to cow pox were immune to small pox. He tested his hypothesis out on a boy and injected him with cow pox. When he recovered from cow pox, Jennervinjected him with small pox. Later, Jenner discovered that the boy was still healthy and therefore immune to small pox. -
Nitrous Oxide
In 1800, nitrous oxide was found to make a patient feel less pain. Humphry Davy wrote that the gas got rid of the feeling of pain and may be used during surgery to reduce pain. -
Stethoscope Invention
The stethoscope was created in 1816 with the purpose to hear what is going on inside someone's body. a French physicist named Rene Laennec invented the stethoscope. -
First Successful Blood Transfusion
The first successful blood transfusion was held in 1818 in a case of postpartum hemorrhage, which is an uncontrollable bleeding after childbirth. It was executed by obstetrician James Blundell/ -
Period: to
Modern Medicine
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Robert Koch
Koch (born in 1843) discovered that the pathogens called bacteria causes in diseases. He is the founder of modern bacteriology and even found the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis. -
Ultrasound
In 1877, Pierre and Jacques Currie discovered piezoelectricity, which is using crystals to transmit energy. They used probes using piezoelectricity to emit and receive sound waves. This technology later develops into ultrasounds we conduct today. -
X Rays
X rays are made when electrons that are moving really fast are suddenly stopped by a metal plate. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen was the first to discover this in 1895 by accident. -
Blood Types
Carl L. discovered that not all blood is the same. He mixed random blood and sometimes it would just turn out sticky. He found that this was because the different blood types has different antibodies and if you mix the same blood, it isn't affected at all. The types are labeled as A, B, AB, and O. -
Insulin
In 1922, Dr. Frederick Banting tried to help cure a fourteen year old boy with diabetes. It was previously discovered that diabetes is caused by a damaged or no pancreas, which causes a deficiency of insulin. Banting tried to inject the boy with dog insulin and he recovered slightly. Once the insulin was worked on to be suitable for humans, the boy's blood sugar returned to normal, signifying success. -
Penicillin
Fleming had noticed that a mold in a petri dish had caused harm to the bacteria around it. He called the mold penicillin. when Fleming experimented with the penicillin, he gave up eventually after undesirable results. Later in time, other scientists worked on the penicillin and were successful and now it is used as medicine. -
HeLa Cells
HeLa cells are a cell line that has been living since 1951 and were taken from a woman named Henrietta Lacks. The cells are nicknamed as immortal because they can grow forever, be frozen, and divided into batches. -
First Successful Organ Transplant
In 1954, Dr. Joseph Murray and Dr. David Hume preformed the first successful organ transplant. They transferred a kidney from to his identical twin, . -
CAT-Scans
In 1963, Allan Cormack had the idea of a CT scan. In 1972, it was actually invented since it wasn't a popular idea when he first released it. Later, he made improvements on the already invented machine. -
HIV
HIV was discovered in 1963 as a retrovirus, which means that their RNA is turned into DNA and then it implants itself into your DNA. HIV was discovered when a group of scientists found that people with AIDS had less white blood cells and this eventually led them to the conclusion that HIV causes AIDS.
