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1853 |
Alexander Wood invented the hypodermic
syringe |
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. . . |
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1890 |
The first laboratory based treatment
for a bacteriological disease was the diptheria anti-toxin, tried
successfully on a child in 1891. Invented by von Behring and Kitasato. |
| Two devices are available for showing
moving pictures. The "Cinématographe" by the Lumière
family and Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope; various inventors were working
on more ways to film and show "moving pictures." |
1895 |
1894 - Yersin and Kitasato
independently discover the organism responsible for bubonic plague.
Simond, in 1898, established the route of infection
for bubonic plague, through the fleas on rats. |
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Wilhelm Roentgen discovered
X-rays in 1895, and the technology was immediately introduced into
medicine. |
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1900 |
The invention of an easy-to-use device
to measure blood pressure leads to the discovery of a new disease
-- hypertension. Measuring blood pressure gradually appears in general
practice |
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1901 - foundation of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City
1902 - Biologics Control Act -- regulating the production of antitoxins and vaccines for purity. |
| Silent films (usually about 15 - 20 minutes long)
are being shown in theaters in large cities. |
1905 |
Discovery of the organism causing syphillis. |
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1910 |
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| Multi-reel "feature films" emerging as
a serious commerial success |
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1914 - Joseph Goldberger performs an epidemiological study that identifies pellagra (very common in the South) as a disease of dietary deficiency. |
| Broadcast radio is beginning as a commercial enterprise |
1915 |
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1918-1919 World wide epidemic of influenza kills an estimated 20 million people (world population approx. 1.5) billion at that time. |
| Technology of recording sound with film underway,
producing shorts in the early 1920s |
1920 |
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1922 - Banting discovers insulin |
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1925 |
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1927 - Early "Technicolor" (2 screen
color) invented; The major Hollywood film companies started investing
seriously in "talking pictures" (mostly black and white) |
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1928 - Fleming discovers penicillin,
but basically ignores its implications. It was not developed as an
antibiotic until 1941. |
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1930 |
The national Hygenic Laboratory renamed the National Institute [singular] of Health. Funding began for on-site research fellowships. |
| 1932 - "Technicolor" improved by introducing
a 3 color process, but hard to use for filming. |
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| Faced with local ordinances banning movies with
unacceptable content, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
promotes voluntary compliance with standards (usually known as the
Hayes' code). This code, among other things, forbade showing surgical
operations (see Sue Lederer's article). |
1935 |
1935 - Social Security Act passed.
It included some provisions for the care of the disabled.
1936 - Volwiler and Tabern discover the general
anesthetic Pentothal, which was administered intraveneously. |
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1937 - foundation of the National Cancer Institute (would become the second Institute of the National Institutes of Health) |
| 1939 - Two major color films, The Wizard of
Oz and Gone with the Wind, produced |
1940 |
1941-42 -- An NIH study determined that
"43 percent of potential inductees were unfit for general military service and 28 percent were unfit for any military service." [NIH History website]
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1945 |
Women first admitted to Harvard Medical School |
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1950 |
1949 - last case of smallpox in the United States |