November 16 in Medical History
29 entries: discoveries, epidemics, drugs and the people who shaped medicine.
Observed today
- Christian feast day: — Giuseppe Moscati
Events
- William Bonwill patents the first electrified dental mallet to fill cavities with gold
- LSDLysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is first synthesized by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland
- Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother undergoes hip surgery
- US Attorney General Janet Reno announces she has Parkinson's disease
- People's Republic of China releases pro-democracy dissident Wei Jingsheng from jail for medical reasons after nearly 18 years of incarceration
- The first cases of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak are traced to Foshan, Guangdong Province, China.
- Bono Crashes BicycleIrish U2 rocker Bono crashes his bicycle in New York's Central Park, and suffers arm, hand and eye socket injuries
- Samoa declares state of emergency over measles epidemic closing all schools after six deaths
- US drugmaker Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine is 94.5% effective in early data
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives first safety approval for lab-grown meat, specifically chicken grown from animal cells by Upside Foods
Born on this day
- Gualtherus van DoeverenDutch physician, and educator (University of Groningen, Leiden University), born in Philippine, Zealand, Netherlands (d. 1783)
- James McHenryIrish-American surgeon and politician (died 1816)
- Warren Sturgis McCullochAmerican neurophysiologist and psychiatrist ("A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity" with Walter Pitts), born in Orange, New Jersey (d. 1969)
- Carlos CamachoAmerican dentist, and politician (1st elected Governor of Guam, 1971-75), born in Hagåtña, Guam (d. 1979)
- Michel JouvetFrench neuroscientist and medical researcher who discovered the region of the brain that controls rapid eye movement (REM sleep), born in Lons-le-Saunier, Jura, France (d. 2017)
- Magdi YacoubEgyptian-British pioneering heart surgeon, born in Bilbeis, Egypt
- Toni BrownAmerican rock piano player, singer-songwriter (Joy of Cooking), magazine editor (Relix, 1980-2002), and clinical psychologist, born in Madison, Wisconsin (d. 2022)
- Oliver BraddickBritish developmental psychologist who researched infant visual perception, birthplace unknown (d. 2022)
- Francis M. FesmireAmerican cardiologist and physician (died 2014)
Died on this day
- Dobrodeia of KievRus princess and author of medical books
- František ChvostekCzech-Austrian military physician and medicinal lecturer, dies at 49
- A. A. AmesAmerican physician and politician, 9th Mayor of Minneapolis (born 1842)
- "Dr. Bob" SmithAmerican physician and co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, dies of colon cancer at 71
- Cluny MacPhersonCanadian doctor and inventor of the gas mask, dies at 87 (1879-1966)
- John CadeAustralian psychiatrist, discovered the psychiatric benefits of lithium in 1949, dies at 68
- Daniel NathansAmerican microbiologist (Nobel 1978 - discovery of restriction enzymes and their application in restriction mapping), dies at 71
- Britton ChanceAmerican molecular biologist and yachtsman (Olympic gold 5½m Class 1952), dies at 97
- Ferdie PachecoAmerican physician (cornerman for Mohammad Ali) and boxing analyst (NBC, Showtime), dies at 89