October 20 in Medical History
21 entries: discoveries, epidemics, drugs and the people who shaped medicine.
Observed today
- World Osteoporosis Day
Events
- Kenyan runner Kip Keino wins the 1,500 m gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics in 3:34.91 despite a severe gallbladder infection
- Pollution is linked to 1 in 6 deaths worldwide, or 9 million, in 2015, according to a report published in "The Lancet"
- Argentina becomes the fifth country in the world to record over 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases with the death toll at 26,716
- Brazilian Senate Report InquiryBrazilian Senate inquiry finds President Bolsonaro should face series of criminal charges, including crimes against humanity, for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Egypt is declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization, becoming the third country in the Eastern Mediterranean and the 44th worldwide
Born on this day
- Thomas BartholinDanish physician, mathematician, and theologian, discovered the lymphatic system, born in Malmø, Sweden (d. 1680)
- Austin FlintAmerican physician and heart research pioneer (Austin heart murmur), born in Petersham, Massachusetts (d. 1886)
- Tommy DouglasCanadian politician (Father of Medicare), born in Falkirk, Scotland (1904-1986)
- Joyce BrothersAmerican psychologist, writer, and television personality (winner of "$64,000 Question"), born in New York City (d. 2013)
- Michael O'DonnellEnglish physician, author, and journalist (died 2019)
- Christiane Nüsslein-VolhardGerman biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
- John KnightBritish disability rights campaigner known for helping make trains more accessible in the UK (the All Aboard campaign), born in Bristol, England (d. 2025)
- Shuping WangChinese doctor who exposed China's HIV crisis, born in Fugou County, Henan, China (d. 2019)
Died on this day
- Thomas LinacreEnglish physician and scholar (born 1460)
- Archibald PitcairneScottish physician and poet, dies at 60
- Daniel David PalmerCanadian founder of chiropractic (1897 Palmer School of Chiropractic), dies of typhoid fever at 68
- Carl Ferdinand CoriCzech-American bio-chemist (Nobel 1947-discovery of how glycogen (animal starch) – a derivative of glucose – is broken down and resynthesized in the body, for use as a store and source of energy), dies at 87
- E. Donnall ThomasAmerican physician (1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for bone marrow transport), dies at 92
- Arno GruenGerman-Swiss psychologist and psychoanalyst (born 1923)
- Robert H. BartlettAmerican surgeon who developed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO machines), dies at 86