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5000 BCE
First Trepanning Operation
Trepanning is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull to treat health problems.The first known trepanning operation was carried out about 5,000 BCE in Ensisheim, France. -
1550 BCE
Ebers Papyrus
The Ebers Papyrus is an Egyptian medical papyrus of herbal knowledge that celebrated donkey, dog, gazelle, and fly dung for their healing properties and their ability to ward off bad spirits. -
460 BCE
Hippocrates
Hippocrates was known as the founder of medicine as was the first physician to systematically classify diseases based on points of similarity and contrast between them. He had many writings on exams and treatments of patients and had a strict code to maintain patient privacy. -
425 BCE
Diogenes of Apollonia
Diogenes of Apollonia was an ancient Greek philosopher who provided the first systematic account of blood vessel architecture in man.He claimed that interactions between things would be impossible unless all were forms of one basic substance. -
130 BCE
Galen
Galen put forward the theory that illness was caused by an imbalance of the four humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.He documented the importance of spinal cord for movement of limbs and he also performed tracheotomy to cure breathing difficulties. -
865
Rhazes
Rhazes was a Persian physician that built upon ideas of Hippocrates and documented differences between smallpox and measles.He wrote over 200 books in different branches of science. -
1000
Barber Surgeons
Barber-Surgeons were medical practitioners who performed surgery. They practiced "bloodletting", cutting, and pulling teeth. -
1025
The Cannon of Medicine
The Cannon of Medicine was compiled by Persian philosopher Avicenna. There was 5 volumes about Greek and Arabic medicine that dominated teachings of medicine until 17th and 18th c. -
1302
Frist Legal Autopsy
The first forensic or legal autopsy, was requested by a magistrate in Bologna to determine cause of death. -
1322
Jacoba Felicie
Jacoba Felicie was the first female to practice medicine. The Faculty of Medicine laid charges on her for practicing medicine without being qualified. -
1493
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German physician who established the role of chemistry in medicine. He introduced new chemical substances into medicine like the use of mercury for syphilis. -
1514
Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius was referred to as the founder of human anatomy.He revolutionized the study of biology and the practice of medicine by his careful description of the anatomy of the human body. The observations he made on dissections led to his creation of the first comprehensive textbook of anatomy. -
1561
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon was the first to formalize the concept of a true scientific method. This method caused major change in medicine and research. There was no more guessing or supernatural causes and they looked for actual cause of illness. -
1578
William Harvey
William Harvey was an English anatomist who was the first to recognize the full circulation of the blood in the human body and to provide experiments and arguments to support this idea. He wrote a book called "Anatomical Exercise on the motion of blood and heart in animals." -
Creation of Microscope
Zacharias Janssen and his father Hans started experimenting with magnifying lenses. They put several lenses in a tube and invented the microscope. -
Edward Jenner
Edward Jenner created the first vaccine for smallpox This vaccine was also the first vaccine ever created. He concluded the vaccine was a success after he carried out his famous experiment on James Phipps. -
John Collins Warren
John Collins Warren performed the first public demonstration of a surgical operation on a patient under ether anesthesia. He played a leading role in establishing the first medical journal in New England. -
Invention of Skethoscope
The stethoscope was invented in France by Rene Laennec at the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris. It consisted of a wooden tube and was monaural. -
Joseph Lister
Joseph Lister was the founder of antiseptic medicine and a pioneer in preventive medicine. He insisted on clean instruments and hands between patients(used Aseptic Technique) -
Robert Koch
Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms are the source of some disease. He was the founder of bacteriology. -
Frederick Hopkins
Frederick Hopkins discovered vitamins and their function in diet. He was the first to recognize the necessity for "accessory factors" in the diet. -
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur demonstrated that microorganisms cause disease and discovered how to make vaccines from weakened, or attenuated, microbes. He developed the earliest vaccines against fowl cholera, anthrax, and rabies. He was one of the most important founders of medical microbiology. -
Discovery of X-rays
X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad who was a professor at Wuerzburg University. He was working with a cathode-ray tube in his laboratory when he observed a fluorescent glow of crystal near his tube which led to the accidental invention of X-rays. -
Invention of Aspirin
Aspirin was invented by a German chemist named Felix Hoffman. Felix used it to alleviate his father's rheumatism. -
Discovery of Radium
Radium was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie. They first discovered polonium while working in Paris investigated radioactivity. Marie obtained radium from pitchblende, a material that contains uranium, after noticing that unrefined pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium that was separated from it. -
Alexander Fleming
Alexander Fleming was a Scottish researcher who discovered penicillin. At the time, he was experimenting with the influenza virus in the Laboratory of the Inoculation Department at St. Mary's Hospital. -
First Successful Kidney Transplant
Joeseph Murray and his colleagues at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston performed the first truly successful kidney transplant from one twin to another. Joseph Murray won a noble Prize for this accomplishment. -
CT Scans
CT was invented by British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield. A CT scan combines a series of X-rays taken from different angles and uses computer processing to create cross-sectional images of the bones, blood vessels, and soft tissue inside your body. -
Humane Genome Project
The Human Genome Project uses information from DNA to develop new ways to treat, cure, or prevent the thousands of diseases that affect humankind.The main goal was to provide a complete and accurate sequence of the 3 billions DNA base pairs that makes up the human genome and to find all the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 human genes. -
First Remote Surgery
Remote surgery is the ability for a doctor to perform surgery on a patient even though they are not physically in the same location.The first true remote surgery was conducted across the Atlantic Ocean with French surgeon Jacques Marescaux performing a cholecystectomy on a patient 6230 km away.
