June 24 in Medical History
23 entries: discoveries, epidemics, drugs and the people who shaped medicine.
Events
- A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.
- Paracelsus' ProtestParacelsus publicly burns standard medical textbooks at the University of Basel, as a protest against the current teaching and practice of medicine
- Coronation of Edward VII DelayedBritish King Edward VII develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation
- FTC rules health warnings must appear on all cigarette packages
- Clapton Sells GuitarsChristie’s Auction House in New York City conducts sale of 100 of Eric Clapton ’s guitars to benefit Crossroads Centre at Antigua, a drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation facility he co-founded in 1997, raising nearly $4.5M; "Brownie", a 1956 Fender Stratocaster used on the original recording of "Layla" sells for a then record $450,000
- Christie’s Auction House in New York City conducts sale of 80 of Eric Clapton and friends' guitars to benefit Crossroads Centre at Antigua, a drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation facility he co-founded in 1997, raising over $5M; "Blackie", a 1956-57 composite Fender Stratocaster used as his primary instrument form the mid 70s until 1985 sells for a then record $959,500
- UN states Yemen cholera epidemic reached 200,000 cases, with 1,300 deaths. Worst cholera outbreak anywhere in the world.
- Mysterious sickness affects 718 children with 152 deaths around Indian city of Muzaffarpur, previously thought due to lychee fruit but now unknown
- COVID-19 pandemic worsens dramatically in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, with 25% mortality according to the UN
- Cuomo Orders QuarantineNY Governor Andrew Cuomo announces people arriving from nine states hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic will have to isolate for two weeks
- US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to choose abortion in a 6-3 vote
Born on this day
- Ernst Heinrich WeberGerman anatomist and physiologist (one of the founders of experimental psychology), born in Wittenberg, Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1878)
- Willard RichardsAmerican physician and religious leader, born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts (d. 1854)
- Guillermo RawsonArgentine physician and politician (died 1890)
- Friedrich LoefflerGerman bacteriologist and academic (died 1915)
- James B. EdwardsAmerican dentist, soldier, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Energy (died 2014)
- [Allen] Richard SelzerAmerican surgeon and writer (Imelda; Confessions of a Knife), born in Troy, New York (d. 2016)
- Julia KristevaBulgarian-French philosopher, psychoanalyst, and novelist (Semeiotikè), born in Sliven, Bulgaria
- Chris HigginsEnglish geneticist and academic
Died on this day
- Matthew ThorntonIrish-American physician (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at 88
- Phyllis FriendBritish nurse, chief nursing officer, and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, dies at 90
- Bobby ShermanAmerican actor (Here Comes the Brides), pop singer ("Little Woman"), and paramedic, dies of cancer at 81
- Joseph GiordanoAmerican trauma surgeon who operated on President Ronald Reagan after he was shot, dies of complications of an infection at 84