-
The philosopher Socrates, charged with religious heresy and corrupting the morals of local youth, dies by hemlock poisoning.
-
Egyptian queen Cleopatra experiments with strychnine and other poisons on prisoners and the poor.
-
Jewish philosopher and physician Moses Maimonides writes Treatise on Poisons and Their Antidotes.
-
The bubonic and pneumonic plagues ravaged Europe, killing about 25 million people between 1347-1351. This is the largest pandemic in recorded history. Worldwide, it kills about 75 million people.
-
The Venetian Council of Ten, a political body, carries out murders with poison for a fee.
-
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) experiments with bioaccumulation of poisons in animals and calls the procedure “passages”.
-
Paracelsus (1493-1541) identifies the specific chemical components of plant and animals that are responsible for their toxic properties. He also shows that varying the amount of the poison affects the severity of the effects.
-
Pope Clement VII (1478-1534) died (possibly murdered) after eating Amanita phalloides, the death cap mushroom.
-
Hieronyma Spara, a Roman woman and fortune-teller, forms a secret organization that sells arsenic potion to women so they could murder their husbands.
-
King Louis XIV passes a royal decree forbidding citizens from owning or selling arsenic or poisonous substances.
-
Richard Meade writes about poisonous animals and plants.
-
Considered the father of modern toxicology, Orfila. Writes Traite des Poisons, which describes the symptoms of poisons