Today in Medical History

August 19 in Medical History

19 entries: discoveries, epidemics, drugs and the people who shaped medicine.

Events

6
  1. 1793Yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, then the US capital, has its first fatality and lasts until November, killing around 5,000 peopleDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  2. 1947J. Arens and D. van Dorpen synthesize vitamin ADiscovery / ResearchOnThisDay
  3. 1993George Tiller, an abortion doctor, is shot in his arms by Rachelle ShannonPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  4. 2015US Food and Drug Administration approves female Viagra libido pill AddyiDrug / VaccineOnThisDay
  5. 2020Golfing dinner termed #GolfGate, appearing to flout COVID-19 restrictions and attended by Irish political figures, prompts two politicians to later resignDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  6. 2021Iran's official COVID-19 death toll surpasses 100,000 amid its fifth wave of infections, according to its Health MinistryDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay

Born on this day

8
  1. 1751Samuel PrescottAmerican physician and patriot who with Paul Revere and William Dawes warned Massachusetts minutemen the regulars are coming before the battles of Lexington and Concord, born in Concord, Massachusetts, British America (d. 1777)Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  2. 1830Julius Lothar MeyerGerman Chemist who developed the first periodic table of chemical elements independently of Dimitri Mendeleev, born in Varel Oldenburg (d. 1895)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  3. 1851Charles E. HiresAmerican pharmacist, inventor and manufacturer of the Hires Root Beer beverage, born in Elsinboro, Pennsylvania (1851-1937)Dentist / Pharmacist / AlliedOnThisDay
  4. 1911Anna TerruweDutch psychiatrist and author (died 2004)Psychiatry / PsychologyWikipedia
  5. 1929Ion N. PetroviciRomanian-German neurologist and academic (died 2021)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  6. 1933David HopwoodEnglish microbiologist and geneticistMedical scientistWikipedia
  7. 1935Story MusgraveAmerican physician and NASA astronaut (STS-6, -51-F, -33, -44, -61, -80), born in Boston, MassachusettsPhysician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  8. 1958Brendan NelsonAustralian politician (Leader of the Liberal Party 2007-08), born in Coburg, AustraliaPhysician / SurgeonWikipedia

Died on this day

5
  1. 1931Aristides Agramonte y SimoniCuban-American Physician, Pathologist and Bacteriologist (yellow fever), dies at 63Medical scientistOnThisDay
  2. 1947Ernst LaqueurDutch chemist and psychologist (sexual hormones), dies at 67Medical scientistOnThisDay
  3. 1994Walter BartleyEnglish biochemist, dies at 78Medical scientistOnThisDay
  4. 2016Donald HendersonAmerican epidemiologist, led world campaign that eradicated smallpox, dies at 82Medical scientistOnThisDay
  5. 2025Michel OdentFrench obstetrician and advocate for natural approaches to childbirth (Birth Reborn), dies at 95Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay

Sources: onthisday.com and Wikipedia's “On this day” (text under CC BY-SA 4.0), screened for medical relevance. Each entry links to its source.