April 1 in Medical History
26 entries: discoveries, epidemics, drugs and the people who shaped medicine.
Events
- Stanley Cup Final, Seattle Ice Arena, Seattle, WA: With Montreal Canadiens (NHL) & Seattle Metropolitans (PCHA) tied at 2-2-1, trophy not awarded due to worldwide flu epidemic
- American television soap operas premiere: "General Hospital" (ABC) and "Doctors" (NBC)
- Event of InterestUS President Richard Nixon signs bill limiting cigarette advertisements from 1st Jan 1971
- 14th annual National Easter Seal Telethon raises $24,600,000
- Sports HistoryA. Bartlett Giamatti replaces Peter Ueberroth as 7th commissioner of Major League Baseball; dies suddenly of a heart attack 5 months later
- Veteran American MLB umpire John McSheery dies of heart attack while umpiring on Opening Day at the Cincinnati Reds' Riverfront Stadium; he was 51
- The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia, becoming the first nation in the world to do so
- COVID-19 PandemicUS President Donald Trump says the US Strategic National Stockpile is almost depleted amid widespread shortages of medical equipment to fight COVID-19
- All England Lawn Tennis Club cancels Wimbledon for the first time since World War II because of the COVID-19 pandemic; entire grass-court season abandoned
- Legendary movie poster artist Drew Struzan announces he can no longer paint due to Alzheimer's; Struzan is known for illustrating over 150 movie posters, including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner and Back to the Future
Born on this day
- William HarveyEnglish physician (discovered blood circulation), born in Folkestone, Kent (d. 1657)
- Jules-Nicolas CrevauxFrench naval doctor and explorer (French Guiana and the Amazon), born in Lorquin, France (d. 1882)
- Acacio Gabriel ViegasIndian physician who identified the plague in Bombay, born in Apora, Portuguese India (d. 1933)
- Arnold AletrinoDutch physician, criminologist, and author (From Life), born in Amsterdam (d. 1916)
- Truby KingNew Zealand physician, pioneer in infant welfare (Karitāne hospitals, Plunket Society), born near New Plymouth, Zealand (d. 1938)
- K. B. HedgewarIndian physician and activist (died 1940)
- Alberta HunterAmerican blues singer, and composer ("Downhearted Blues"), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1984)
- Joseph MurrayAmerican surgeon and pioneer of organ transplantation (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1990), born in Milford, Massachusetts (d. 2012)
- Joseph F. Fraumeni Jr.American cancer epidemiologist known for helping discover Li-Fraumeni syndrome, born in Everett, Massachusetts (d. 2026)
- Cyril KarabusSouth African paediatric oncologist
- Larry McDonaldAmerican Representative from Georgia (Democratic: 1975-83) who was killed aboard Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shot down by Soviet fighters, born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1983)
- William Frederick FisherAmerican physician and astronaut (STS 51-I), born in Dallas, Texas
- Nikitas KaklamanisGreek academic and politician, Greek Minister of Health and Social Security
Died on this day
- Jacob BolotinAmerican physician (born 1888)
- Charles R. DrewAmerican physician and surgeon who pioneered blood plasma research and developed the blood bank concept, dies in a car crash at 45 (1904-1950)
- Karen MuirSouth African swimmer and physician (born 1952)