Today in Medical History

January 5 in Medical History

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

Events

8
  1. 1896Discovery of X-rays"Die Presse" newspaper (Germany) publicly announces Wilhelm Röntgen 's discovery of X-rays and their potential for new methods of medical diagnoses in a front-page articleSurgery / Procedure / DeviceOnThisDay
  2. 1950The Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (Sightsavers) is established in the UKHealthcare institution / ProfessionOnThisDay
  3. 1982Star center Darryl Sittler leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs on medical advice because of mental depression; trade request was taking too longMental healthOnThisDay
  4. 1987Surrogate Baby M case begins in Hackensack, New JerseyPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  5. 2001A report reveals that doctor and former GP Harold Shipman has potentially killed hundreds of patientsHealthcare institution / ProfessionOnThisDay
  6. 2018Kitwe in Zambia bans shaking hands and the sale of fresh food in attempt to prevent a cholera outbreakDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  7. 2020Chinese professor Zhang Yongzhen publishes the first SARS-CoV-2 genome map online, allowing health professionals worldwide to identify COVID-19Discovery / ResearchOnThisDay
  8. 2021Daily new cases of COVID-19 top 60,000 in the UK as data reveals one in fifty in England had COVID-19 within the last weekDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay

Born on this day

6
  1. 1834William John WillsEnglish explorer of Australia, member of the Burke and Wills expedition, born in Totnes, United Kingdom (d. 1861)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  2. 1835Hendrik van RijgersmaDutch naturalist and physician, born in Lemmer, Netherlands (d. 1877)Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  3. 1874Joseph ErlangerAmerican physiologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1944 - shock therapy), born in San Francisco, California (1874-1965)Medical scientistWikipedia
  4. 1879Hans EppingerAustrian physician, born in Prague, Czech Republic (d. 1946)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  5. 1892Agnes von KurowskyAmerican nurse (died 1984)Nurse / MidwifeWikipedia
  6. 1944Carolyn McCarthyAmerican gun reform advocate and politician (US Representative for New York (D), 1997-2015), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2025)Nurse / MidwifeWikipedia

Died on this day

6
  1. 1951Soh JaipilSouth Korean-American journalist and activist (born 1864)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  2. 1952Hristo TatarchevBulgarian and Macedonian revolutionary, founded Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (VMORO), dies at 82Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  3. 1959Margaret ChungChinese-American physician who was the first known Chinese-American woman to earn a medical degree, dies of cancer at 69Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  4. 1996Jay ArenaAmerican pediatrician (Duke Poison Center Director, inventor of the child-proof safety cap), dies at 86Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  5. 2008Thomas GrayEnglish pioneering anaesthetist, dies at 94Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  6. 2026Jean WilsonBritish disability campaigner and co-founder of the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (Sightsavers), dies at 103Health leader / ActivistOnThisDay

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.