History of Medicine

Microscope Invented

Jan 1, 1590

Dutch lens grinder Zacharius Jannssen invents the microscope.

Microscope is refined

Jan 1, 1670

Anton van Leeuwenhoek refines the microscope and fashions nearly 500 models. Discovers blood cells and observes animal and plant tissues and microorganisms.

Stethoscope Invented

Jan 1, 1816

René Laënnec invents the stethoscope.

First Successful Transfusion of Blood

Jan 1, 1818

British obstetrician James Blundell performs the first successful transfusion of human blood.

First Woman to Recieve Medical Degree

Jan 1, 1849

Elizabeth Blackwell is the first woman to receive a medical degree (from Geneva Medical College in Geneva, New York).

FIrst Vaccine for rabies

Jan 1, 1882

First vaccine for rabies

Insulin first used to treat diabetes.

Jan 1, 1922

Insulin first used to treat diabetes.

First Blood Bank Established

Jan 1, 1937

Bernard Fantus starts the first blood bank at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, using a 2% solution of sodium citrate to preserve the blood. Refrigerated blood lasts ten days.

Dolly the Sheep Cloned

Jan 1, 1996

Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell (dies in 2003).

Smallpox is identified

Mar 2, 2022

Persian physician Rhazes is the first to identify smallpox, as distinguished from measles, and to suggest blood as the cause of infectious disease.