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Period: 500 to Dec 31, 1300
Middle Ages
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659
Tooth Fillings
The first use of a substance for tooth fillings, which was made up of silver and tin. -
Jan 1, 754
The First Pharmacy
The first pharmacy was established in Baghdad in the year 754. -
1200
Cleaning Wounds
Ancient medical writers believed that during surgery some pus should remain in the wounds, thinking that this would aid in its healing. -
1200
Quarantine
The concept of quarantine – to keep groups of people apart so that disease could not spread – began in the aftermath of the Black Death. -
Jan 1, 1299
Eyeglasses
We are not sure who invented eyeglasses to help correct vision, but by the end of 13th-century it seems that the product was well known in Italy. -
Period: Jan 1, 1301 to
Renaissance
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1550
How Blood Pumps Through the Body
William Harvey was a very important doctor, he was the person who discovered how the heart pumps blood round the body. -
1575
Medication
Many medicines were also created during the Renaissance such as laudanum which was created to reduce and stop pain. -
Prosthetic Leg
During the Renaissance the first Prosthetic leg was invented by Benjamin Franklin Palmer, before he invented this, peg legs were used. -
Hospitals
They housed people who were sick, poor, and blind, as well as pilgrims, travelers, orphans, people with mental illness, and individuals who had nowhere else to go. -
Sterilized Tools
Infections were very common, since tools were not sterilized until Louis Pasteur presented the idea of sterilizing the medical tools in order to prevent infection. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
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The Stethoscope
Rene Laennec, a French doctor, invented the stethoscope and pioneered its use in the diagnosis of chest infections. -
First Successful Blood Transfusion
James Blundell, a British obstetrician, performed the first successful blood transfusion on a patient who had hemorrhaged. -
First Doctor to Use Anesthesia for Surgery
Crawford Long, an American pharmacist and surgeon, was the first doctor to give a patient inhaled ether anesthesia for a surgical procedure. -
First Fully Qualified Female Doctor
Elizabeth Blackwell, an American, became the first fully qualified female doctor in the United States and the first female to be on the U.K.'s Medical Register. She promoted the education of women in medicine. -
Preventing Rabies
Pasteur managed to prevent rabies in Joseph Meister, a 9-year-old boy, using a postexposure vaccination. -
Period: to
Modern World
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Blood Types
Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian biologist and physician, identified the different blood types and classified them into blood groups. -
Alzheimer's Disease
Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist, identified "presenile dementia," later known as Alzheimer's disease. -
Brain Waves
The German doctor Hans Berger discovered human electroencephalography, making him the first person to record brain waves. -
The First Kidney Transplant
Joseph Murray carried out the first human kidney transplant, which involved identical twins. -
An End to Smallpox
Doctors recorded the last fatal case of smallpox. -
DNA Fingerprinting
Sir Alec John Jeffreys, a British geneticist, developed the techniques for DNA fingerprinting and profiling that forensic departments now use worldwide. These techniques also resolve problems not relating to crime, such as paternity disputes. -
Human Genome Project
Scientists completed the draft Human Genome Project (HGP). The project involves collaborators from around the world. -
Period: to
21st Century
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First Bio-artificial Liver
Dr. Kenneth Matsumura created the first bio-artificial liver. This could lead to scientists creating artificial livers for transplantation or other techniques that enable a damaged liver to renew itself. -
Face Transplant
Jean-Michel Dubernard, a French transplant specialist, carried out a partial face transplant on a woman whose face became disfigured as a result of a dog attack. -
3D Printed Body Parts
Scientists have successfully created human body parts using 3D printers. -
Gene Therapy
A type of genetic engineering known as CRISPR gene editing may make it possible in the future to prevent genetic and inherited conditions, such as heart disease, leukemia, cystic fibrosis, and hemophilia.
