Today in Medical History

October 17 in Medical History

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

Events

6
  1. 1927Ban Johnson , in failing health, retires as president of MLB's American LeagueNotable person's healthOnThisDay
  2. 1984Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Bruce MerrifieldDiscovery / ResearchOnThisDay
  3. 1987US First Lady Nancy Reagan undergoes a modified radical mastectomyNotable person's healthOnThisDay
  4. 2018Australian state of Queensland decriminalizes abortionPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  5. 2023An explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza kills hundreds of Palestinians during the Gaza war.Public health / PolicyWikipedia
  6. 2024Teen smoking in the US falls to its lowest level in 25 years, decreasing by 20% in a year from 2.8 million to 2.25 million, including e-cigarettesPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay

Born on this day

5
  1. 1781Johann Friedrich MeckelGerman anatomist (died 1833)Medical scientistWikipedia
  2. 1828Aureliano Maestre de San JuanSpanish scientist (died 1890)Medical scientistWikipedia
  3. 1833Paul BertFrench Zoologist, Physiologist and pioneer of aerospace medicine whose study of the effects of air pressure on the body, such as altitude sickness and 'the bends', made possible space and ocean exploration, born in Auxerre, Burgundy (d. 1886)Medical scientistOnThisDay
  4. 1930Robert AtkinsAmerican cardiologist, known for the Atkins diet, born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 2003)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  5. 1956Mae JemisonAmerican physician, academic, and astronautPhysician / SurgeonWikipedia

Died on this day

6
  1. 1780William CookworthyEnglish chemist, dies at 75Dentist / Pharmacist / AlliedWikipedia
  2. 1931Alfons Maria JakobGerman neurologist, dies at 47Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  3. 1934Santiago Ramón y CajalSpanish histologist (central nervous system) and neuroscientist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1906), dies at 82Medical scientistOnThisDay
  4. 1998Hakim Mohammed SaidPakistani scholar and philanthropistPhysician / SurgeonWikipedia
  5. 2013Arthur Maxwell HouseCanadian neurologist and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador (born 1926)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  6. 2024(Andrzej) "Andrew" SchallyPolish-American endocrinologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1977), and cancer researcher, dies at 97Physician / SurgeonWikipedia

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.