Today in Medical History

September 28 in Medical History

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

Observed today

1
  1. World Rabies Day (International)Health observanceWikipedia

Events

15
  1. 1928UK passes the Dangerous Drugs Act, outlawing cannabisPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  2. 1928Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.Discovery / ResearchWikipedia
  3. 1961"Doctor Kildare" debuts on NBC-TVMedicine in film/TV/sportOnThisDay
  4. 1961Dr. KildareAmerican medical drama series "Dr. Kildare," starring Richard Chamberlain and Raymond Massey, premieres on NBC-TVMedicine in film/TV/sportOnThisDay
  5. 1970Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser dies of a heart attack in Cairo.Notable person's healthWikipedia
  6. 1971The UK passes the Misuse of Drugs Act banning the medicinal use of cannabisPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  7. 1974Betty Ford has MastectomyUS first Lady Betty Ford undergoes a radical mastectomyNotable person's healthOnThisDay
  8. 1976US Congress passes Toxic Substances Control ActPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  9. 1982First reports appear of deaths from cyanide-laced Tylenol capsulesPublic health / PolicyOnThisDay
  10. 2015DNA controllers for the age women enter menopause are announced in "Nature Genetics" by a research team from Exeter and Cambridge universitiesDiscovery / ResearchOnThisDay
  11. 2017Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus reveals she has breast cancerNotable person's healthOnThisDay
  12. 2020COVID-19 records a global death toll surpassing 1 million with over 33 million known cases (Johns Hopkins)Disease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  13. 2021Russia reports its highest daily COVID-19 death toll of 852 amid its third wave of infections, with less than half of the population vaccinated with one doseDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay
  14. 2021US National Inventors Hall of Fame announces it will induct two Black women for the first time: Engineer Marian Croak and ophthalmologist Dr. Patricia BathSurgery / Procedure / DeviceOnThisDay
  15. 2023Nearly 1,000 people die of dengue in Bangladesh in just a few weeks, with authorities calling it the country's worst-ever outbreakDisease / EpidemicOnThisDay

Born on this day

16
  1. 1573Théodore de MayerneSwiss physician (died 1654)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  2. 1789Richard BrightEnglish physician (Bright's Disease/nephritis), born in Bristol, England (d. 1858)Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  3. 1809Alvan Wentworth ChapmanAmerican physician and botanist (died 1899)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  4. 1841Georges ClémenceauFrench Radical-Socialist Party politician (Prime Minister of France, 1906-09, 1917-20) who defended French Army officer Alfred Dreyfus, born in Mouilleron-en-Pareds, France (1841-1929)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  5. 1849Dudley Allen SargentAmerican physician and educator (Harvard U gymnasium), born in Belfast, Maine (d. 1924)Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  6. 1852Henri MoissanFrench chemist who isolated the element "fluorine" from its compounds (Nobel 1906), born in Paris (1852-1907)Dentist / Pharmacist / AlliedWikipedia
  7. 1898Carl ClaubergGerman Nazi doctor (gynecologist, specializing in mass sterilization and other experiments on humans at Auschwitz concentration camp), born in Wupperhof, Germany (d. 1957)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  8. 1907Heikki SavolainenFinnish gymnast (Olympic gold Pommel horse, Team 1948; World C'ship gold Horizontal bar 1931), born in Joensuu, Finland (d. 1997)Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  9. 1922Phyllis FriendBritish nurse, chief nursing officer, and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, born in England (d. 2013)Nurse / MidwifeOnThisDay
  10. 1939Stuart KauffmanAmerican medical doctor, theoretical biologist, and author (Origins of Order, At Home in the Universe), born in Sacramento, CaliforniaMedical scientistWikipedia
  11. 1943Mike KreidlerAmerican physician and politician (Rep-D-Washington 1993-95), born in Tacoma, WashingtonPhysician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  12. 1945Manuel TrujilloSpanish trauma expert and director of psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital (1991-2008), born in Zaragoza, Spain (d. 2025)Psychiatry / PsychologyOnThisDay
  13. 1947Ludvigsen [Gustav Lorentzen]Norwegian pop and bilhdren;s music singer-songwriter (Knutsen & Ludvigsen), musical therapist, and UNCEF ambassador, born in Bergen, Norway (d. 2010)Dentist / Pharmacist / AlliedOnThisDay
  14. 1953Jeane FreemanScottish health secretary during the COVID-19 pandemic (2018-21), born in Newton, Scotland (d. 2026)Health leader / ActivistOnThisDay
  15. 1955Mercy ManciXhosa sangoma and HIV activist from South AfricaHealth leader / ActivistWikipedia
  16. 1957Bill CassidyAmerican politician (Senator-R-Louisiana 2015-), born in Highland Park, IllinoisPhysician / SurgeonWikipedia

Died on this day

6
  1. 1810John ArcherAmerican Congressman who received the 1st medical diploma issued on US continent (1768), dies at 69Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  2. 1881John Milton BernhiselAmerican physician, politician and Latter Day Saints figure, dies at 82Physician / SurgeonOnThisDay
  3. 1895Louis PasteurFrench bacteriologist (invented pasteurization), dies at 72 (1822-1895)Medical scientistWikipedia
  4. 1957Albert AscoliItalian serologist and chemist (developed anti-tuberculosis vaccine), dies at 80Medical scientistOnThisDay
  5. 2014Dannie AbseWelsh writer and poet, dies at 91Physician / SurgeonWikipedia
  6. 2014Sheila FaithEnglish dentist and politician (born 1928)Dentist / Pharmacist / AlliedWikipedia

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.