Browsing: Health/Medicine

A Brief History On May 31, 455, Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus was stoned to death by an angry mob, an ignoble end to a world leader.  Back on April 27 of this year History and Headlines featured “10 World Leaders That Met Gruesome Deaths.”  We teased about a sequel and here it is, 10 more leaders that did not end well.  Are there even more?  Tell us who else belongs on this list. Digging Deeper 10. Petronius Maximus, 455. Not a particularly good guy himself, Maximus was probably involved in the murders of other Roman leaders including the previous…

A Brief History On May 28, 1934, the famous Dionne Quints (quintuplets) were born in an unincorporated rural area of Ontario, Canada, making them instant celebrities.  Other births have also captured the imagination of the public, and here we list 10 of the most famous births. Digging Deeper 10.  Prince William, 1982. The world was in love with Princess Diana, so when the Princess of Wales gave birth to William, a healthy future King of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, many people in the vast former British Empire celebrated.  For some reason, many in the United States were captivated…

A Brief History On May 21, 1881, Clara Barton established the American Red Cross in Washington, DC.  A nurse, teacher and patent clerk, Barton left the legacy of the Red Cross for all Americans that had no one else to turn to in time of crisis, whether man-made or natural disaster.  Additionally, the Red Cross is instrumental in teaching First Aid and CPR classes as well as gathering and distributing most of the blood supply in the US.  Like Clara Barton, many other women have risen to the top of their profession, sport, or field as a leader for men…

A Brief History On May 20, 1983, two separate groups of researchers published their research that indicated AIDS was caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Science Magazine.  AIDS, Auto-immunodeficiency Syndrome, had been discovered in the United States first in 1981. Digging Deeper Instead of widespread concern and alarm, the American public reacted largely with scorn, thinking that the AIDS problem was limited to homosexuals and drug addicts, making up acronyms such as GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency), 4H Disease (for Haitians, Homosexuals, Hemophiliacs and Heroin), and referring to AIDS as “Anally Injected Death Syndrome.” As more people were identified…

A Brief History On May 14, 1796, English scientist Edward Jenner used pus scraped from a cowpox pustule to inoculate his gardener’s son, the first ever vaccine used. Cowpox is a disease similar to smallpox, but much more mild, similar to chicken pox. Digging Deeper Jenner and others observed the fact that milkmaids frequently got cowpox, but never seemed to get smallpox, and smallpox was a deadly disease that killed about 20 percent of Europe’s population (with about 60 percent of that population getting the disease). Purposely infecting the boy with cowpox and after the boy recovered exposing him to…