Today in Medical History

May 18 in Medical History

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

Observed today

1
  1. National Speech Pathologist Day (United States)Health observanceWikipedia

Events

7
  1. 1869Robert Tanner Freeman is 1st African American to graduate from Harvard Dental SchoolHealthcare institution / ProfessionOnThisDay
  2. 1978Italy legalizes abortionPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  3. 1992US Supreme Court rules states could not force mentally unstable criminal defendants to take anti-psychotic drugsMental healthOnThisDay
  4. 2020WHO member states agree to set up an inquiry into the global response to the pandemic, including looking at the WHO itselfDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  5. 2020Trump Takes HydroxychloroquineUS President Donald Trump confirms he is taking controversial drug hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19Drug / VaccineOnThisDay
  6. 2021India records the highest recorded daily COVID-19 death toll to date in the world with 4,529 deathsDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  7. 2022Baby Formula CrisisAmid a nationwide US baby formula shortage, President Joe Biden invokes the Defense Production Act, requiring suppliers to fulfil orders to baby formula manufacturers firstPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay

Born on this day

6
  1. 1862Albert von Schrenk-NotzingGerman psychologist who studied paranormal phenomena, born in Oldenburg, Germany Confederation (d. 1929)Psychiatry / PsychologyOnThisDay
  2. 1901Vincent du VigneaudAmerican biochemist (1955 Nobel Prize for Chemisty for work on cyclic peptide oxytocin), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1978)Medical scientistWikipedia
  3. 1920Anthony StorrEnglish psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and author (died 2001)Psychiatry / PsychologyWikipedia
  4. 1921Anthony EpsteinEnglish pathologist and virologist (co-discover of the Epstein–Barr virus), born in London, England (d. 2024)Medical scientistOnThisDay
  5. 1921Michael A. EpsteinEnglish pathologist and academic (died 2024)Medical scientistWikipedia
  6. 1922Gerda BoyesenNorwegian founder of Biodynamic Psychology and Psychotherapy, born in Bergen, Norway (d. 2005)Psychiatry / PsychologyOnThisDay

Died on this day

4
  1. 1922Charles Louis Alphonse LaveranFrench physician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1907), dies at 76Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  2. 1949Nikolai SemashkoSoviet statesman and health official (People’s Commissar of Public Health, created Semashko healthcare model), dies at 74Health leader / ActivistOnThisDay
  3. 2014Chukwuedu NwokoloNigerian physician and academic (born 1921)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  4. 2025Anne MerrimanBritish doctor who revolutionized palliative care in Uganda, dies of respiratory failure at 90Physician / 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.