Today in Medical History

May 15 in Medical History

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

Events

6
  1. 1817First private mental health hospital opens in the US, Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital) in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaMental healthOnThisDay
  2. 1929Fire in X-ray film stock kills 125 at Crile Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio)Healthcare institution / ProfessionWikipedia
  3. 1951First VaginoplastyFirst vaginoplasty procedure (sex reassignment surgery) in the UK performed on Roberta Cowell by Harold GilliesSurgery / Procedure / DeviceOnThisDay
  4. 2009Farrah's Story"Farrah's Story" documentary following Farrah Fawcett 's battle with cancer airs on NBC in the USNotable person's healthOnThisDay
  5. 2017State of Emergency declared in Sanaa, Yemen after outbreak of cholera kills 115Disease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  6. 2019Alabama passes law banning abortion in almost all cases including rape or incestPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay

Born on this day

12
  1. 1845Ilya MechnikovRussian zoologist and bacteriologist known as the "father of natural immunity" (Nobel 1908), born in Ivanovka, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1916)Medical scientistOnThisDay
  2. 1845Élie MetchnikoffRussian zoologist (died 1916)Medical scientistWikipedia
  3. 1848Carl WernickeGerman neuropathologist. (died 1905)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  4. 1911Herta OberheuserGerman Nazi doctor and convicted war criminal, born in Cologne, German Empire (d. 1978)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  5. 1914Jack PepysSouth African British immunologist (allergy and allergic diseases), born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 1996)Medical scientistOnThisDay
  6. 1917Christian J. LambertsenAmerican Army doctor and inventor of the Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit (LARU), born in Westfield, New Jersey (d. 2011)Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  7. 1925Mary LyonEnglish geneticist (X-chromosome inactivation), born in Norwich, Norfolk (d. 2014)Medical scientistWikipedia
  8. 1934Alvin F. PoussaintAmerican psychiatrist, cultural figure and writer (Why Blacks Kill Blacks, Lay My Burden Down), born in Harlem, New York City (d. 2025)Psychiatry / PsychologyOnThisDay
  9. 1936James R. UrbaniakAmerican orthopedic microsurgeon and expert in reattaching severed fingers, born in Fairmont, West Virginia (d. 2026)Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  10. 1945Michael DexterEnglish hematologist and academicPhysician / SurgeonWikipedia
  11. 1948Kathleen SebeliusAmerican politician, 21st US Secretary of Health and Human Services (2009-14), and CEO of Sebelius Resources LLC, born in Cincinnati, OhioHealth leader / ActivistWikipedia
  12. 1978Amy ChowAmerican gymnast (Olympic gold Team, silver Uneven bars 1996), born in San Jose, CaliforniaPhysician / SurgeonWikipedia

Died on this day

3
  1. 1482Paolo ToscanelliItalian physician and mapmaker, diesPhysician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  2. 2000Alfred H. FreeAmerican biochemist and co-developer of the dip-and-read diabetes test, dies at 87Medical scientistOnThisDay
  3. 2015Elisabeth BingGerman-American physical therapist and author (born 1914)Dentist / Pharmacist / AlliedWikipedia

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.