Today in Medical History

July 24 in Medical History

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

Events

6
  1. 1967First Modern HospiceFirst modern hospice, St. Christopher's, is founded by Dr. Cicely Saunders in London, beginning modern palliative care and the hospice movementHealthcare institution / ProfessionOnThisDay
  2. 2007Libya frees all six of the medics in the HIV trial in LibyaDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  3. 2012Four barrels containing 248 human fetuses are found in Sverdlovsk, RussiaPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  4. 2018American singer Demi Lovato is hospitalized after a drug overdose in Los AngelesNotable person's healthOnThisDay
  5. 2022Heatwave across America's Northeast with many cities, including Boston, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, declaring heat emergenciesPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  6. 2023Dengue outbreak in Bangladesh, caused by heavy monsoon rains, claims more than 170 lives, with 33,000 hospitalizations, according to local health officialsDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay

Born on this day

5
  1. 1574Thomas Platter the YoungerSwiss physician and author (died 1628)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  2. 1794Heinrich Christian PanderBaltic German biologist and embryologist, born in Riga, Latvia (d. 1865)Medical scientistOnThisDay
  3. 1913Britton ChanceAmerican molecular biologist and yachtsman (Olympic gold 5½m Class 1952), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (d. 2010)Medical scientistWikipedia
  4. 1914Kenneth Bancroft ClarkAmerican civil rights activist (Dark Ghetto) and first black president of the American Psychological Association, born in Panama Canal Zone (d. 2005)Psychiatry / PsychologyOnThisDay
  5. 1914Frances Oldham KelseyCanadian-American FDA Director (stopped thalidomide use in the US), born in Cobble Hill, British Columbia (d. 2015)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia

Died on this day

9
  1. 1986Fritz A. LipmanGerman-American biochemist (discoverer co-enzymes, Nobel 1953), dies at 87Medical scientistOnThisDay
  2. 1986Fritz Albert LipmannGerman-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899)Medical scientistWikipedia
  3. 1993Ben PolakDutch physician, communist and resistance fighter, dies at 79Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  4. 2005Richard DollEnglish epidemiologist (pioneer in research linking smoking to health problems), dies at 92Medical scientistWikipedia
  5. 2007Albert EllisAmerican psychologist, dies at 93Psychiatry / PsychologyWikipedia
  6. 2011David Servan-SchreiberFrench physician, neuroscientist, and author (born 1961)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  7. 2012Robert LedleyAmerican scientist (invented the CT scanner), dies at 86Medical scientistWikipedia
  8. 2013Virginia E. JohnsonAmerican doctor and sexologist (Masters & Johnson), dies at 88Psychiatry / PsychologyWikipedia
  9. 2026Gunther von Hagens [Gunther Gerhard Liebchen]German anatomist who invented the plastination technique for preserving tissue specimens (Body Worlds), dies at 81Medical scientistOnThisDay

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.