Today in Medical History

November 14 in Medical History

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

Observed today

1
  1. World Diabetes Day (International)Health observanceWikipedia

Events

4
  1. 16661st Blood TransfusionEnglish writer Samuel Pepys writes the first report of a blood transfusion (between dogs) in his diarySurgery / Procedure / DeviceOnThisDay
  2. 1968First European lung transplantSurgery / Procedure / DeviceOnThisDay
  3. 2020Record global daily total of 660,905 COVID-19 cases declared to the WHO, with total known infections over 54 millionDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  4. 2022Grammy Award winner Roberta Flack reveals she is suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and is no longer able to singNotable person's healthOnThisDay

Born on this day

7
  1. 1771Marie Francois Xavier BichatFrench anatomist and physiologist (tissue theory), born in Paris (1771-1802)Medical scientistWikipedia
  2. 1776Henri DutrochetFrench physiologist (discovered & named process of osmosis), born in Néon, France (d. 1847)Medical scientistWikipedia
  3. 1869John LumsdenIrish physician, founded the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland (died 1944)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  4. 1891Frederick BantingCanadian physician , recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, born in Alliston, Ontario (1891-1941)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  5. 1895Walter Jackson Freeman IIAmerican physician who developed and practiced psychiatric surgery and transorbital lobotomy, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania(d. 1972)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  6. 1933Akira EndoJapanese biochemist, first to develop statins, born in Higashiyuri, Japan (d. 2024)Medical scientistOnThisDay
  7. 1933Sidney ZionAmerican journalist who campaigned for medical residents to work limited hours (The Libby Zion Law), born in Passaic, New Jersey (d. 2009)Health leader / ActivistOnThisDay

Died on this day

8
  1. 1746Georg StellerGerman naturalist and explorer (Great Northern Expedition), dies from fever at 37Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  2. 1829Louis Nicolas VauquelinFrench chemist and pharmacist (discovered chromium, beryllium), dies at 66Dentist / Pharmacist / AlliedWikipedia
  3. 1844John AbercrombieScottish physician, dies at 64Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  4. 1994John F Hampepathologist (Fabric & Stoflongen), dies at 83Medical scientistOnThisDay
  5. 1996Vera von der HeydtGerman psychoanalyst, dies at 96Psychiatry / PsychologyOnThisDay
  6. 2012Abubakar Olusola SarakiNigerian physician and politician (born 1933)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  7. 2022Mitchell RosenthalAmerican psychiatrist and founder of Phoenix House, dies of complications of pneumonia at 87Psychiatry / PsychologyOnThisDay
  8. 2025Alice WongAmerican disability rights activist and author (Year of the Tiger), dies of an infection at 51Health 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.