Timeline of History of Medicine
Content
Timeline of History of Medicine
Antiquity
2600 BC – Imhotep the priestphysician who was later deified as the Egyptian god of
medicine.[1]ancient Egyptian medicine
2500 BC Iry Egyptian inscription speaks of Iry as [eyedoctor of the palace,] [palace
physician of the belly,] [guardian of the royal bowels,] and [he who prepares the important
medicine (name cannot be translated) and knows the inner juices of the body.][2]
1900 BC 1600 BC Akkadian clay tablets on medicine survive primarily as copies from
Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh.[3]
1800 BC Code of Hammurabi sets out fees for surgeons and punishments for
malpractice[2]
1800 BC Kahun Gynecological Papyrus
1600 BC Hearst papyrus Coprotherapy and magic[4]
1551 BC Ebers Papyrus Coprotherapy and magic[5]
1500 BC – Saffron used as a medicine on the Aegean island of Thera in ancient Greece
1500 BC Edwin Smith Papyrus an Egyptian medical text and the oldest known surgical
treatise (no true surgery) no magic[2]
1300 BC Brugsch Papyrus and London Medical Papyrus
1250 BC Asklepios[2]
9th century Hesiod reports an ontological conception of disease via the Pandora myth.
Disease has a "life" of its own but is of divine origin.[4]
8th century Homer tells that Polydamna supplied the Greek forces besieging Troy with
healing drugs Homer also tells about battlefield surgery Idomeneus tells Nestor after
Machaon had fallen: A surgeon who can cut out an arrow and heal the wound with his
ointments is worth a regiment.[2]
700 BC Cnidos medical school also one at Cos
500 BC Darius I orders the restoration of the House of Life (First record of a (much older)
medical school)[2]:47
500 BC – Bian Que becomes the earliest physician known to use acupuncture and pulse
diagnosis
500 BC – the Sushruta Samhita is published, laying the framework for Ayurvedic medicine
c 490 c 430 Empedocles four elements[5]
510430 BC Alcmaeon of Croton scientific anatomic dissections. He studied the optic
nerves and the brain, arguing that the brain was the seat of the senses and intelligence. He
distinguished veins from the arteries and had at least vague understanding of the circulation
of the blood.[2] Variously described by modern scholars as Father of Anatomy; Father of
Physiology; Father of Embryology; Father of Psychology; Creator of Psychiatry; Founder of
Gynecology; and as the Father of Medicine itself.[6] There is little evidence to support the
claims but he is, nonetheless, important.[5][7]
fl. 425 BC Diogenes of Apollonia[5]
c.484 – 425 BC Herodotus tells us Egyptian doctors were specialists: Medicine is practiced
among them on a plan of separation; each physician treats a single disorder, and no more.
Thus the country swarms with medical practitioners, some undertaking to cure diseases of
the eye, others of the head, others again of the teeth, others of the intestines,and some
those which are not local.[2]
496405 BC Sophocles “It is not a learned physician who sings incantations over pains
which should be cured by cutting.”[8]
420 BC – Hippocrates of Cos maintains that diseases have natural causes and puts forth
the Hippocratic Oath. Origin of rational medicine.
Medicine after Hippocrates
c. 400 BC 1 BC – The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine) is
published, laying the framework for traditional Chinese medicine
4th century BC Philistion of Locri[5] Praxagoras distinguishes veins and arteries and
determines only arteries pulse[9]
375295 BC Diocles of Carystus[1][5][10]
354 BC Critobulus, extracts an arrow from Phillip II's eye, treating the loss of the eyeball
without causing facial disfigurement
3rd century BC Philinus of Cos founder of the Empiricist school. Herophilos and
Erasistratus practice androtomy. (Dissecting live and dead human beings)
280 BC – Herophilus Dissection[7] studies the nervous system and distinguishes between
sensory nerves and motor nerves and the brain. also the anatomy of the eye and medical
terminology such as (in Latin translation "net like" becomes retiform/retina.[5]
270 – Huangfu Mi writes the Zhenjiu Jiayijing (The ABC Compendium of Acupuncture), the
first textbook focusing solely on acupuncture
250 BC – Erasistratus studies the brain and distinguishes between the cerebrum and
cerebellum physiology of the brain, heart and eyes, and in the vascular, nervous,
respiratory and reproductive systems.
219 – Zhang Zhongjing publishes Shang Han Lun (On Cold Disease Damage).
200 BC – the Charaka Samhita uses a rational approach to the causes and cure of disease
and uses objective methods of clinical examination
124 44 BC Asclepiades of Bithynia[7]
116–27 B.C Marcus Terentius Varro Germ theory of disease No one paid any attention to
it.[11]
1st century AD Rufus of Ephesus; Marcellinus a physician of the first century AD;[5]
Numisianus[6]
23 AD – 79 AD Pliny the Elder writes Natural History
ca 25 BC ca 50 AD Aulus Cornelius Celsus Medical encyclopedia[12]
5070 AD – Pedanius Dioscorides writes De Materia Medica – a precursor of modern
pharmacopoeias that was in use for almost 1600 years
2nd century AD Aretaeus of Cappadocia[7]
98138 AD Soranus of Ephesus[13]
129 216 AD – Galen Clinical medicine based on observation and experience.[10] The
resulting tightly integrated and comprehensive system, offering a complete medical
philosophy dominated medicine throughout the Middle Ages and until the beginning of the
modern era.[14]
After Galen 200 AD
d.260 Gargilius Martialis, short Latin handbook on Medicines from Vegetables and
Fruits[10]
4th century Magnus of Nisibis, Alexandrian doctor and professor book on urine[15]
325400 Oribasius 70 volume encyclopedia[3]
362 Julian orders xenones built, imitating Christian charity (proto hospitals)[15]
369 Basil of Caesarea founded at Caesarea in Cappadocia an institution (hospital) called
Basilias, with several buildings for patients, nurses, physicians, workshops, and schools[13]
375 Ephrem the Syrian opened a hospital at Edessa[13] They spread out ans specialized
nosocomia for the sick, brephotrophia for foundlings, orphanotrophia for orphans, ptochia
for the poor, xenodochia for poor or infirm pilgrims, and gerontochia for the old.[13]
400 The first hospital in Latin Christendom was founded by Fabiola at Rome[13]
420 Caelius Aurelianus a doctor from Sicca Veneria (ElKef, Tunisia) handbook On Acute
and Chronic Diseases in Latin.[10]
447 Cassius Felix of Cirta (Constantine, Ksantina, Algeria), medical handbook drew on
Greek sources, Methodist and Galenist in Latin[10]
480 547 Benedict of Nursia founder of "monastic medicine"[16]
fl. 511–534 Anthimus Greek: Ἄνθιμος[17]
536 Sergius of Reshaina (died 536) A Christian theologianphysician who translated thirty
two of Galen’s works into Syriac and wrote medical treatises of his own[18]
525605 Alexander of Tralles[15] Alexander Trallianus
500550 Aetius of Amida Encyclopedia 4 books each divided into 4 sections[3][3][15]
second half of 6th century building of xenodocheions/bimārestāns by the Nestorians under
the Sasanians, would evolve into the complex secular “Islamic hospital,” which combined lay
practice and Galenic teaching[18]
550630 Stephanus of Athens[10][19]
560 – 636 Isidore of Seville
c. 620 Aaron of Alexandria Syriac . He wrote 30 books on medicine, the "Pandects". He was
the first author in antiquity who mentioned the diseases of smallpox and measles[20]
translated by Māsarjawaih a Syrian Jew and Physician, into Arabic about A. D. 683
c. 630 Paul of Aegina Encyclopedia in 7 books very detailed surgery used by Albucasis[10]
[15][21]
790869 Leo Itrosophist also Mathematician or Philosopher wrote "Epitome of Medicine"
c. 800–873 – AlKindi (Alkindus) De Gradibus
820 Benedictine hospital founded, School of Salerno would grow around it[3]
857d Mesue the elder (Yūḥannā ibn Māsawayh) Syriac Christian[14]
c. 830–870 – Hunayn ibn Ishaq (Johannitius) Syriacspeaking Christian also knew Greek
and Arabic. Translator and author of several medical tracts.[14]
c. 838–870 – Ali ibn Sahl Rabban alTabari, writes an encyclopedia of medicine in Arabic.
[22]
c.910d Ishaq ibn Hunayn
9th century Yahya ibn Sarafyun a Syriac physician Johannes Serapion,[14] Serapion the
Elder
c. 865–925 – Rhazes pediatrics,[3][23] and makes the first clear distinction between
smallpox and measles in his alHawi.
d.955 Isaac Judaeus Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān alIsrāʾīlī Egyptian born Jewish physician[14]
913982 Shabbethai Donnolo alleged founding father of School of Salerno wrote in
Hebrew[24]
d. 982994 'Ali ibn al'Abbas alMajusi Haly Abbas[3]
1000 – Albucasis (9361018) surgery Kitab alTasrif, surgical instruments.[14]
d.1075 Ibn Butlan Christian physician of Baghdad Tacuinum sanitatis the Arabic original
and most of the Latin copies, are in tabular format[14]
10181087 Michael Psellos or Psellus a Byzantine monk, writer, philosopher, politician and
historian. several books on medicine[15]
c. 1030 – Avicenna The Canon of Medicine The Canon remains a standard textbook in
Muslim and European universities until the 18th century.
c.10711078 Simeon Seth or Symeon Seth an 11thcentury Jewish Byzantine translated
Arabic works into Greek[15]
1084 First documented hospital in England Canterbury[13]
1087d Constantine the African[14]
10831153 Anna Komnene, Latinized as Comnena
1095 Congregation of the Antonines, was founded to treat victims of "St. Anthony's fire" a
skin disease.[13]
late 11th early 12th century Trotula[25]
1123 St Bartholomew's Hospital founded by the court jester Rahere Augustine nuns
originally cared for the patients. Mental patients were accepted along with others[26]
1127 Stephen of Antioch translated the work of Haly Abbas
1100–1161 – Avenzoar Teacher of Averroes[27]
1170 Rogerius Salernitanus composed his Chirurgia also known as The Surgery of Roger
11261198 Averroes[3]
c.1161d Matthaeus Platearius
1200 1500
1204 Innocent III organized the hospital of Santo Spirito at Rome inspiring others all over
Europe
c.12101277 William of Saliceto also known as Guilielmus de Saliceto
1210 1295 Taddeo Alderotti Scholastic medicine[28]
1240 Bartholomeus Anglicus[4]
1242 – Ibn anNafis suggests that the right and left ventricles of the heart are separate and
discovers the pulmonary circulation and coronary circulation[14]
c. 1248 – Ibn alBaitar wrote on botany and pharmacy,[14] studied animal anatomy and
medicine veterinary medicine.
1249 – Roger Bacon writes about convex lens spectacles for treating longsightedness
1257 1316 Pietro d'Abano also known as Petrus De Apono or Aponensis[28]
1260 Louis IX established, Les Quinzevingt; originally a retreat for the blind, it became a
hospital for eye diseases, and is now one of the most important medical centers in Paris[13]
c. 1260 – 1316 Henri de Mondeville
1284 Mansur hospital of Cairo[3]
c. 1275 – c. 1328 Joannes Zacharias Actuarius a Byzantine physician wrote the last great
compendium of Byzantine medicine[15]
12751326 Mondino de Luzzi "Mundinus" carried out the first systematic human dissections
since Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Ceos 1500 years earlier.[29][30]
1288 The hospital of Santa Maria Nuova founded in Florence, it was strictly medical.[4]
1300 – concave lens spectacles to treat myopia developed in Italy.[31]
1310 Pietro d'Abano's Conciliator (c.1310)[4]
d1348 Gentile da Foligno[28]
12921350 Ibn Qayyim alJawziya[3]
13061390 John of Arderne[29][32][33]
d.1368 Guy de Chauliac[29][34]
f.1460 Heinrich von Pfolspeundt[29][30][35][36][37]
14431502 Antonio Benivieni[29][38] Pathological anatomy[39]
14931541 Paracelsus[29] On the relationship between medicine and surgery[40] surgery
book[41]
1500–1800
early 16th century:
Paracelsus, an alchemist by trade, rejects occultism and pioneers the use of chemicals and
minerals in medicine. Burns the books of Avicenna, Galen and Hippocrates.[42]
Hieronymus Fabricius[29] His "Surgery" is mostly that of Celsus, Paul of Aegina, and
Abulcasis citeing them by name.[43]
Caspar Stromayr or Stromayer Sixteenth Century[29][44]
1500?1561 Pierre Franco[29][37][45][46]
Ambroise Pare 15101590 pioneered the treatment of gunshot wounds.[29][47][48]
Bartholomeo Maggi at Bologna, Felix Wurtz of Zurich, Léonard Botal in Paris, and the
Englishman Thomas Gale (surgeon), (the diversity of their geographical origins attests to
the widespread interest of surgeons in the problem), all published works urging similar
treatment to Paré’s. But it was Paré’s writings which were the most influential.[49]
1518 College of Physicians founded now known as Royal College of Physicians of London
is a British professional body of doctors of general medicine and its subspecialties. It
received the royal charter in 1518[50]
15101590 Ambroise Paré surgeon[50]
15401604 William Clowes (surgeon)[29][36][51] Surgical chest for military surgeons[51][52]
1543 – Andreas Vesalius publishes De Fabrica Corporis Humani which corrects Greek
medical errors and revolutionizes European medicine[53][54]
1546 – Girolamo Fracastoro proposes that epidemic diseases are caused by transferable
seedlike entities
15501612 Peter Lowe [29][52][55]
1553 – Miguel Serveto describes the circulation of blood through the lungs. He is accused
of heresy and burned at the stake
1556 – Amato Lusitano describes venous valves in the Ázigos vein
1559 – Realdo Colombo describes the circulation of blood through the lungs in detail
1563 – Garcia de Orta founds tropical medicine with his treatise on Indian diseases and
treatments
1570 1643 John Woodall Ships Surgeon used lemon juice to treat scurvy[52] wrote "The
Surgions Mate"[56]
1596 – Li Shizhen publishes Běncǎo Gāngmù or Compendium of Materia Medica
1603 – Girolamo Fabrici studies leg veins and notices that they have valves which allow
blood to flow only toward the heart
16211676 Richard Wiseman[29][36][52][57][58]
1628 – William Harvey explains the circulatory system in Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu
Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus
16831758 Lorenz Heister[29][52][59]
16881752 William Cheselden[29][52][60][61][62]
1701 – Giacomo Pylarini gives the first smallpox inoculations in Europe. They were widely
practised in the east before then.
17141789 Percivall Pott[29][63][64][65][66]
1720 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
17281793 John Hunter (surgeon)[29][47][67][68]
1736 – Claudius Aymand performs the first successful appendectomy
17441795 PierreJoseph Desault[29][52][69] First surgical periodical[70]
1747 – James Lind discovers that citrus fruits prevent scurvy
17491806 Benjamin Bell Leading surgeon of his time and father of a surgical dynasty[29]
system of surgery[71]
17521832 Antonio Scarpa[29][52][72][73]
17631820John Bell (surgeon)[29][36][74][75]
17661842 Dominique Jean Larrey Surgeon to Napoleon[29][36][52][76][77][78][79]
17681843 Astley Cooper sergeon[29][52][72] lectures[80] principles and practice[81]
17741842 Charles Bell, surgeon[29][36][74][82]
1774 – Joseph Priestley discovers nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, ammonia, hydrogen chloride
and oxygen
17771835 Baron Guillaume Dupuytren[29] Head surgeon at HôtelDieu de Paris,[83] The
age Dupuytren[84][85]
1785 – William Withering publishes "An Account of the Foxglove" the first systematic
description of digitalis in treating dropsy
1790 – Samuel Hahnemann rages against the prevalent practice of bloodletting as a
universal cure and founds homeopathy
1796 – Edward Jenner develops a smallpox vaccination method
1799 – Humphry Davy discovers the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide
1800–1899
1800 – Humphry Davy announces the anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide
18131883 James Marion Sims Vesicovaganial surgery[29][86][87] Father of surgical
genocology[36] Biography[88]
1816 – Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope
18271912 Joseph Lister Antiseptic surgery[29][52][89] Father of modern surgery[90]
1818 – James Blundell performs the first successful human blood transfusion
1842 – Crawford Long performs the first surgical operation using anesthesia with ether
1846 – First painless surgery with general anesthetic
1847 – Ignaz Semmelweis discovers how to prevent puerperal fever
1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell is the first woman to gain a medical degree
1858 Rudolf Carl Virchow 13 October 1821 – 5 September 1902 his theories of cellular
pathology spelled the end of Humoral medicine
1867 – Lister publishes Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery, based partly on
Pasteur's work
1870 – Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch establish the germ theory of disease
1878 – Ellis Reynolds Shipp graduates from Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania and
begins practice in Utah
1879 – First vaccine for cholera
1881 – Louis Pasteur develops an anthrax vaccine
1882 – Louis Pasteur develops a rabies vaccine
1890 – Emil von Behring discovers antitoxins and uses them to develop tetanus and
diphtheria vaccines
1895 – Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers medical use of Xrays in medical imaging
1900–1999
1901 – Karl Landsteiner discovers the existence of different human blood types
1901 – Alois Alzheimer identifies the first case of what becomes known as Alzheimer's
disease
1903 Willem Einthoven discovers electrocardiography (ECG/EKG)
1906 – Frederick Hopkins suggests the existence of vitamins and suggests that a lack of
vitamins causes scurvy and rickets
1907 – Paul Ehrlich develops a chemotherapeutic cure for sleeping sickness
1908 – Victor Horsley and R. Clarke invents the stereotactic method
1909 – First Intrauterine device described by Richard Richter.[91]
1910 Hans Christian Jacobaeus performs the first laparoscopy on humans
1917 – Julius WagnerJauregg discovers the malarial fever shock therapy for general
paresis of the insane
1921 – Edward Mellanby discovers vitamin D and shows that its absence causes rickets
1921 – Frederick Banting and Charles Best discover insulin – important for the treatment of
diabetes
1921 – Fidel Pagés pioneers epidural anesthesia
1923 – First vaccine for Diphtheria
1926 – First vaccine for Pertussis
1927 – First vaccine for Tuberculosis
1927 – First vaccine for Tetanus
1928 – Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1929 – Hans Berger discovers human electroencephalography
1932 – Gerhard Domagk develops a chemotherapeutic cure for streptococcus
1933 – Manfred Sakel discovers insulin shock therapy
1935 – Ladislas J. Meduna discovers metrazol shock therapy
1935 – First vaccine for Yellow Fever
1936 – Egas Moniz discovers prefrontal lobotomy for treating mental diseases; Enrique
Finochietto develops the now ubiquitous selfretaining thoracic retractor
1938 – Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini discover electroconvulsive therapy
1943 – Willem J Kolff build the first dialysis machine
1944 Disposable Catheter David S. Sheridan
1946 Chemotherapy Alfred G. Gilman and Louis S.Goodman
1947 Defibrillator Claude Beck
1948 Acetaminophen Julius Axelrod, Bernard Brodie
1949 – First implant of intraocular lens, by Sir Harold Ridley
1949 mechanical assistor for anesthesia John Emerson
1952 – Jonas Salk develops the first polio vaccine (available in 1955)
1952 Cloning Robert Briggs &; Thomas King
1953 HeartLung Machine Dr John Heysham Gibbon
1953 Medical Ultrasonography Inge Edler
1954 Joseph Murray performs the first human kidney transplant (on identical twins)
1954 Ventouse Tage Malmstrom
1955 Tetracycline Lloyd Conover
1956 Metered Dose Inhaler 3M
1957 – William Grey Walter invents the brain EEG topography (toposcope)
1958 Pacemaker Rune Elmqvist
1959 In Vitro Fertilization Min Chueh Chang
1960 – Invention of Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
1960 – First combined oral contraceptive approved by the FDA[91]
1962 Hip Replacement John Charnley
1962 Beta Blocker James W. Black
1962 – First Oral Polio Vaccine (Sabin)
1963 Artificial Heart Paul Winchell
1963 Thomas Starzl performs the first human liver transplant
1963 James Hardy performs the first human lung transplant
1963 Valium (diazepam) Leo H Sternbach
1964 – First vaccine for Measles
1965 – Frank Pantridge installs the first portable defibrillator
1965 – First commercial ultrasound
1966 C. Walton Lillehei performs the first human pancreas transplant
1966 Rubella Vaccine Harry Martin Meyer and Paul D. Parkman[92]
1967 – First vaccine for Mumps
1967 – Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant
1968 Powered Prothesis Samuel Alderson
1968 Controlled Drug Delivery Alejandro Zaffaron
1969 Internet Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA)
1969 Balloon Catheter Thomas Fogarty
1969 Cochlear Implant William House
1970 Cyclosporine, the first effective immunosuppressive drug is introduced in organ
transplant practice
1971 Genetically Modified Organisms Ananda Chakrabart
1971 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Raymond Vahan Damadian
1971 Computed Tomography (CT or CAT Scan) Godfrey Hounsfield
1971 Transdermal Patches Alejandro Zaffaroni
1971 – Sir Godfrey Hounsfield invents the first commercial CT scanner
1972 Insulin Pump Dean Kamen
1973 Laser Eye Surgery (LASIK) Mani Lal Bhaumik
1974 Liposuction Giorgio Fischer
1976 – First commercial PET scanner
1978 – Last fatal case of smallpox[93]
1979 Antiviral Drugs George Hitchings &; Gertrude Elion
1980 – Raymond Damadian builds first commercial MRI scanner
1980 Lithotripter Dornier Research Group
1980 – First vaccine for Hepatitis B Dr Baruch Samuel Blumberg
1981 Artificial Skin John F. Burke &; Ioannis V Yannas
1981 Bruce Reitz performs the first human heartlung combined transplant
1982 Humulin insulin Eli Lilly
Interferon Cloning Sidney Pestka
1985 Automated DNA Sequencer Leroy Hood &; Lloyd Smith
1985 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Kaery Mullis
1985 Surgical Robot Dr Yik San Kwoh
1985 DNA Fingerprinting Alec Jeffreys
1985 Capsule Endoscopy Tarun Mullick
1986 Fluoxetine HCl Eli Lilly and Co
1987 – Ben Carson, leading a 70member medical team in Germany, was the first to
separate occipital craniopagus twins.
1987 commercially available Statins Merck &; Co.
1987 Tissue Engineering Joseph Vacanti &; Robert Langer
1988 Intravascular Stent Julio Palmaz
1988 Laser Cataract Surgery Dr Patricia Bath
1989 Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) Alan Handyside
1989 DNA Microarray Stephen Fodor
1990 Gamow Bag ® Dr Igor Gamow
1992 – First vaccine for Hepatitis A available[94]
1992 Electroactive polymers (Artificial Muscle) SRI International
1992 Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) Andre van Steirteghem
1996 Dolly the Sheep cloned
1998 Stem Cell Therapy James Thomson
2000 – present
26 June 2000 Human Genome draft completed
2001 Telesurgery Jacques Marescaux
2003 – Carlo Urbani, of Doctors without Borders alerted the World Health Organization to
the threat of the SARS virus, triggering the most effective response to an epidemic in
history. Urbani succumbs to the disease himself in less than a month.
2005 – JeanMichel Dubernard performs the first partial face transplant
2006 – First HPV vaccine approved
2006 – Second rotavirus vaccine approved (first was withdrawn)
2007 Visual prosthetic (bionic eye) Argus II
2008 – Laurent Lantieri performs the first full face transplant
2013 First kidney grown in vitro in the U.S.
2013 First human liver grown from stem cells in Japan
2014 Great Ebola Outbreak First cases and deaths in Europe and America
Antiquity
2600 BC – Imhotep the priestphysician who was later deified as the Egyptian god of
medicine.[1]ancient Egyptian medicine
2500 BC Iry Egyptian inscription speaks of Iry as [eyedoctor of the palace,] [palace
physician of the belly,] [guardian of the royal bowels,] and [he who prepares the important
medicine (name cannot be translated) and knows the inner juices of the body.][2]
1900 BC 1600 BC Akkadian clay tablets on medicine survive primarily as copies from
Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh.[3]
1800 BC Code of Hammurabi sets out fees for surgeons and punishments for
malpractice[2]
1800 BC Kahun Gynecological Papyrus
1600 BC Hearst papyrus Coprotherapy and magic[4]
1551 BC Ebers Papyrus Coprotherapy and magic[5]
1500 BC – Saffron used as a medicine on the Aegean island of Thera in ancient Greece
1500 BC Edwin Smith Papyrus an Egyptian medical text and the oldest known surgical
treatise (no true surgery) no magic[2]
1300 BC Brugsch Papyrus and London Medical Papyrus
1250 BC Asklepios[2]
9th century Hesiod reports an ontological conception of disease via the Pandora myth.
Disease has a "life" of its own but is of divine origin.[4]
8th century Homer tells that Polydamna supplied the Greek forces besieging Troy with
healing drugs Homer also tells about battlefield surgery Idomeneus tells Nestor after
Machaon had fallen: A surgeon who can cut out an arrow and heal the wound with his
ointments is worth a regiment.[2]
700 BC Cnidos medical school also one at Cos
500 BC Darius I orders the restoration of the House of Life (First record of a (much older)
medical school)[2]:47
500 BC – Bian Que becomes the earliest physician known to use acupuncture and pulse
diagnosis
500 BC – the Sushruta Samhita is published, laying the framework for Ayurvedic medicine
c 490 c 430 Empedocles four elements[5]
510430 BC Alcmaeon of Croton scientific anatomic dissections. He studied the optic
nerves and the brain, arguing that the brain was the seat of the senses and intelligence. He
distinguished veins from the arteries and had at least vague understanding of the circulation
of the blood.[2] Variously described by modern scholars as Father of Anatomy; Father of
Physiology; Father of Embryology; Father of Psychology; Creator of Psychiatry; Founder of
Gynecology; and as the Father of Medicine itself.[6] There is little evidence to support the
claims but he is, nonetheless, important.[5][7]
fl. 425 BC Diogenes of Apollonia[5]
c.484 – 425 BC Herodotus tells us Egyptian doctors were specialists: Medicine is practiced
among them on a plan of separation; each physician treats a single disorder, and no more.
Thus the country swarms with medical practitioners, some undertaking to cure diseases of
the eye, others of the head, others again of the teeth, others of the intestines,and some
those which are not local.[2]
496405 BC Sophocles “It is not a learned physician who sings incantations over pains
which should be cured by cutting.”[8]
420 BC – Hippocrates of Cos maintains that diseases have natural causes and puts forth
the Hippocratic Oath. Origin of rational medicine.
Medicine after Hippocrates
c. 400 BC 1 BC – The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine) is
published, laying the framework for traditional Chinese medicine
4th century BC Philistion of Locri[5] Praxagoras distinguishes veins and arteries and
determines only arteries pulse[9]
375295 BC Diocles of Carystus[1][5][10]
354 BC Critobulus, extracts an arrow from Phillip II's eye, treating the loss of the eyeball
without causing facial disfigurement
3rd century BC Philinus of Cos founder of the Empiricist school. Herophilos and
Erasistratus practice androtomy. (Dissecting live and dead human beings)
280 BC – Herophilus Dissection[7] studies the nervous system and distinguishes between
sensory nerves and motor nerves and the brain. also the anatomy of the eye and medical
terminology such as (in Latin translation "net like" becomes retiform/retina.[5]
270 – Huangfu Mi writes the Zhenjiu Jiayijing (The ABC Compendium of Acupuncture), the
first textbook focusing solely on acupuncture
250 BC – Erasistratus studies the brain and distinguishes between the cerebrum and
cerebellum physiology of the brain, heart and eyes, and in the vascular, nervous,
respiratory and reproductive systems.
219 – Zhang Zhongjing publishes Shang Han Lun (On Cold Disease Damage).
200 BC – the Charaka Samhita uses a rational approach to the causes and cure of disease
and uses objective methods of clinical examination
124 44 BC Asclepiades of Bithynia[7]
116–27 B.C Marcus Terentius Varro Germ theory of disease No one paid any attention to
it.[11]
1st century AD Rufus of Ephesus; Marcellinus a physician of the first century AD;[5]
Numisianus[6]
23 AD – 79 AD Pliny the Elder writes Natural History
ca 25 BC ca 50 AD Aulus Cornelius Celsus Medical encyclopedia[12]
5070 AD – Pedanius Dioscorides writes De Materia Medica – a precursor of modern
pharmacopoeias that was in use for almost 1600 years
2nd century AD Aretaeus of Cappadocia[7]
98138 AD Soranus of Ephesus[13]
129 216 AD – Galen Clinical medicine based on observation and experience.[10] The
resulting tightly integrated and comprehensive system, offering a complete medical
philosophy dominated medicine throughout the Middle Ages and until the beginning of the
modern era.[14]
After Galen 200 AD
d.260 Gargilius Martialis, short Latin handbook on Medicines from Vegetables and
Fruits[10]
4th century Magnus of Nisibis, Alexandrian doctor and professor book on urine[15]
325400 Oribasius 70 volume encyclopedia[3]
362 Julian orders xenones built, imitating Christian charity (proto hospitals)[15]
369 Basil of Caesarea founded at Caesarea in Cappadocia an institution (hospital) called
Basilias, with several buildings for patients, nurses, physicians, workshops, and schools[13]
375 Ephrem the Syrian opened a hospital at Edessa[13] They spread out ans specialized
nosocomia for the sick, brephotrophia for foundlings, orphanotrophia for orphans, ptochia
for the poor, xenodochia for poor or infirm pilgrims, and gerontochia for the old.[13]
400 The first hospital in Latin Christendom was founded by Fabiola at Rome[13]
420 Caelius Aurelianus a doctor from Sicca Veneria (ElKef, Tunisia) handbook On Acute
and Chronic Diseases in Latin.[10]
447 Cassius Felix of Cirta (Constantine, Ksantina, Algeria), medical handbook drew on
Greek sources, Methodist and Galenist in Latin[10]
480 547 Benedict of Nursia founder of "monastic medicine"[16]
fl. 511–534 Anthimus Greek: Ἄνθιμος[17]
536 Sergius of Reshaina (died 536) A Christian theologianphysician who translated thirty
two of Galen’s works into Syriac and wrote medical treatises of his own[18]
525605 Alexander of Tralles[15] Alexander Trallianus
500550 Aetius of Amida Encyclopedia 4 books each divided into 4 sections[3][3][15]
second half of 6th century building of xenodocheions/bimārestāns by the Nestorians under
the Sasanians, would evolve into the complex secular “Islamic hospital,” which combined lay
practice and Galenic teaching[18]
550630 Stephanus of Athens[10][19]
560 – 636 Isidore of Seville
c. 620 Aaron of Alexandria Syriac . He wrote 30 books on medicine, the "Pandects". He was
the first author in antiquity who mentioned the diseases of smallpox and measles[20]
translated by Māsarjawaih a Syrian Jew and Physician, into Arabic about A. D. 683
c. 630 Paul of Aegina Encyclopedia in 7 books very detailed surgery used by Albucasis[10]
[15][21]
790869 Leo Itrosophist also Mathematician or Philosopher wrote "Epitome of Medicine"
c. 800–873 – AlKindi (Alkindus) De Gradibus
820 Benedictine hospital founded, School of Salerno would grow around it[3]
857d Mesue the elder (Yūḥannā ibn Māsawayh) Syriac Christian[14]
c. 830–870 – Hunayn ibn Ishaq (Johannitius) Syriacspeaking Christian also knew Greek
and Arabic. Translator and author of several medical tracts.[14]
c. 838–870 – Ali ibn Sahl Rabban alTabari, writes an encyclopedia of medicine in Arabic.
[22]
c.910d Ishaq ibn Hunayn
9th century Yahya ibn Sarafyun a Syriac physician Johannes Serapion,[14] Serapion the
Elder
c. 865–925 – Rhazes pediatrics,[3][23] and makes the first clear distinction between
smallpox and measles in his alHawi.
d.955 Isaac Judaeus Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān alIsrāʾīlī Egyptian born Jewish physician[14]
913982 Shabbethai Donnolo alleged founding father of School of Salerno wrote in
Hebrew[24]
d. 982994 'Ali ibn al'Abbas alMajusi Haly Abbas[3]
1000 – Albucasis (9361018) surgery Kitab alTasrif, surgical instruments.[14]
d.1075 Ibn Butlan Christian physician of Baghdad Tacuinum sanitatis the Arabic original
and most of the Latin copies, are in tabular format[14]
10181087 Michael Psellos or Psellus a Byzantine monk, writer, philosopher, politician and
historian. several books on medicine[15]
c. 1030 – Avicenna The Canon of Medicine The Canon remains a standard textbook in
Muslim and European universities until the 18th century.
c.10711078 Simeon Seth or Symeon Seth an 11thcentury Jewish Byzantine translated
Arabic works into Greek[15]
1084 First documented hospital in England Canterbury[13]
1087d Constantine the African[14]
10831153 Anna Komnene, Latinized as Comnena
1095 Congregation of the Antonines, was founded to treat victims of "St. Anthony's fire" a
skin disease.[13]
late 11th early 12th century Trotula[25]
1123 St Bartholomew's Hospital founded by the court jester Rahere Augustine nuns
originally cared for the patients. Mental patients were accepted along with others[26]
1127 Stephen of Antioch translated the work of Haly Abbas
1100–1161 – Avenzoar Teacher of Averroes[27]
1170 Rogerius Salernitanus composed his Chirurgia also known as The Surgery of Roger
11261198 Averroes[3]
c.1161d Matthaeus Platearius
1200 1500
1204 Innocent III organized the hospital of Santo Spirito at Rome inspiring others all over
Europe
c.12101277 William of Saliceto also known as Guilielmus de Saliceto
1210 1295 Taddeo Alderotti Scholastic medicine[28]
1240 Bartholomeus Anglicus[4]
1242 – Ibn anNafis suggests that the right and left ventricles of the heart are separate and
discovers the pulmonary circulation and coronary circulation[14]
c. 1248 – Ibn alBaitar wrote on botany and pharmacy,[14] studied animal anatomy and
medicine veterinary medicine.
1249 – Roger Bacon writes about convex lens spectacles for treating longsightedness
1257 1316 Pietro d'Abano also known as Petrus De Apono or Aponensis[28]
1260 Louis IX established, Les Quinzevingt; originally a retreat for the blind, it became a
hospital for eye diseases, and is now one of the most important medical centers in Paris[13]
c. 1260 – 1316 Henri de Mondeville
1284 Mansur hospital of Cairo[3]
c. 1275 – c. 1328 Joannes Zacharias Actuarius a Byzantine physician wrote the last great
compendium of Byzantine medicine[15]
12751326 Mondino de Luzzi "Mundinus" carried out the first systematic human dissections
since Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Ceos 1500 years earlier.[29][30]
1288 The hospital of Santa Maria Nuova founded in Florence, it was strictly medical.[4]
1300 – concave lens spectacles to treat myopia developed in Italy.[31]
1310 Pietro d'Abano's Conciliator (c.1310)[4]
d1348 Gentile da Foligno[28]
12921350 Ibn Qayyim alJawziya[3]
13061390 John of Arderne[29][32][33]
d.1368 Guy de Chauliac[29][34]
f.1460 Heinrich von Pfolspeundt[29][30][35][36][37]
14431502 Antonio Benivieni[29][38] Pathological anatomy[39]
14931541 Paracelsus[29] On the relationship between medicine and surgery[40] surgery
book[41]
1500–1800
early 16th century:
Paracelsus, an alchemist by trade, rejects occultism and pioneers the use of chemicals and
minerals in medicine. Burns the books of Avicenna, Galen and Hippocrates.[42]
Hieronymus Fabricius[29] His "Surgery" is mostly that of Celsus, Paul of Aegina, and
Abulcasis citeing them by name.[43]
Caspar Stromayr or Stromayer Sixteenth Century[29][44]
1500?1561 Pierre Franco[29][37][45][46]
Ambroise Pare 15101590 pioneered the treatment of gunshot wounds.[29][47][48]
Bartholomeo Maggi at Bologna, Felix Wurtz of Zurich, Léonard Botal in Paris, and the
Englishman Thomas Gale (surgeon), (the diversity of their geographical origins attests to
the widespread interest of surgeons in the problem), all published works urging similar
treatment to Paré’s. But it was Paré’s writings which were the most influential.[49]
1518 College of Physicians founded now known as Royal College of Physicians of London
is a British professional body of doctors of general medicine and its subspecialties. It
received the royal charter in 1518[50]
15101590 Ambroise Paré surgeon[50]
15401604 William Clowes (surgeon)[29][36][51] Surgical chest for military surgeons[51][52]
1543 – Andreas Vesalius publishes De Fabrica Corporis Humani which corrects Greek
medical errors and revolutionizes European medicine[53][54]
1546 – Girolamo Fracastoro proposes that epidemic diseases are caused by transferable
seedlike entities
15501612 Peter Lowe [29][52][55]
1553 – Miguel Serveto describes the circulation of blood through the lungs. He is accused
of heresy and burned at the stake
1556 – Amato Lusitano describes venous valves in the Ázigos vein
1559 – Realdo Colombo describes the circulation of blood through the lungs in detail
1563 – Garcia de Orta founds tropical medicine with his treatise on Indian diseases and
treatments
1570 1643 John Woodall Ships Surgeon used lemon juice to treat scurvy[52] wrote "The
Surgions Mate"[56]
1596 – Li Shizhen publishes Běncǎo Gāngmù or Compendium of Materia Medica
1603 – Girolamo Fabrici studies leg veins and notices that they have valves which allow
blood to flow only toward the heart
16211676 Richard Wiseman[29][36][52][57][58]
1628 – William Harvey explains the circulatory system in Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu
Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus
16831758 Lorenz Heister[29][52][59]
16881752 William Cheselden[29][52][60][61][62]
1701 – Giacomo Pylarini gives the first smallpox inoculations in Europe. They were widely
practised in the east before then.
17141789 Percivall Pott[29][63][64][65][66]
1720 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
17281793 John Hunter (surgeon)[29][47][67][68]
1736 – Claudius Aymand performs the first successful appendectomy
17441795 PierreJoseph Desault[29][52][69] First surgical periodical[70]
1747 – James Lind discovers that citrus fruits prevent scurvy
17491806 Benjamin Bell Leading surgeon of his time and father of a surgical dynasty[29]
system of surgery[71]
17521832 Antonio Scarpa[29][52][72][73]
17631820John Bell (surgeon)[29][36][74][75]
17661842 Dominique Jean Larrey Surgeon to Napoleon[29][36][52][76][77][78][79]
17681843 Astley Cooper sergeon[29][52][72] lectures[80] principles and practice[81]
17741842 Charles Bell, surgeon[29][36][74][82]
1774 – Joseph Priestley discovers nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, ammonia, hydrogen chloride
and oxygen
17771835 Baron Guillaume Dupuytren[29] Head surgeon at HôtelDieu de Paris,[83] The
age Dupuytren[84][85]
1785 – William Withering publishes "An Account of the Foxglove" the first systematic
description of digitalis in treating dropsy
1790 – Samuel Hahnemann rages against the prevalent practice of bloodletting as a
universal cure and founds homeopathy
1796 – Edward Jenner develops a smallpox vaccination method
1799 – Humphry Davy discovers the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide
1800–1899
1800 – Humphry Davy announces the anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide
18131883 James Marion Sims Vesicovaganial surgery[29][86][87] Father of surgical
genocology[36] Biography[88]
1816 – Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope
18271912 Joseph Lister Antiseptic surgery[29][52][89] Father of modern surgery[90]
1818 – James Blundell performs the first successful human blood transfusion
1842 – Crawford Long performs the first surgical operation using anesthesia with ether
1846 – First painless surgery with general anesthetic
1847 – Ignaz Semmelweis discovers how to prevent puerperal fever
1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell is the first woman to gain a medical degree
1858 Rudolf Carl Virchow 13 October 1821 – 5 September 1902 his theories of cellular
pathology spelled the end of Humoral medicine
1867 – Lister publishes Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery, based partly on
Pasteur's work
1870 – Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch establish the germ theory of disease
1878 – Ellis Reynolds Shipp graduates from Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania and
begins practice in Utah
1879 – First vaccine for cholera
1881 – Louis Pasteur develops an anthrax vaccine
1882 – Louis Pasteur develops a rabies vaccine
1890 – Emil von Behring discovers antitoxins and uses them to develop tetanus and
diphtheria vaccines
1895 – Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers medical use of Xrays in medical imaging
1900–1999
1901 – Karl Landsteiner discovers the existence of different human blood types
1901 – Alois Alzheimer identifies the first case of what becomes known as Alzheimer's
disease
1903 Willem Einthoven discovers electrocardiography (ECG/EKG)
1906 – Frederick Hopkins suggests the existence of vitamins and suggests that a lack of
vitamins causes scurvy and rickets
1907 – Paul Ehrlich develops a chemotherapeutic cure for sleeping sickness
1908 – Victor Horsley and R. Clarke invents the stereotactic method
1909 – First Intrauterine device described by Richard Richter.[91]
1910 Hans Christian Jacobaeus performs the first laparoscopy on humans
1917 – Julius WagnerJauregg discovers the malarial fever shock therapy for general
paresis of the insane
1921 – Edward Mellanby discovers vitamin D and shows that its absence causes rickets
1921 – Frederick Banting and Charles Best discover insulin – important for the treatment of
diabetes
1921 – Fidel Pagés pioneers epidural anesthesia
1923 – First vaccine for Diphtheria
1926 – First vaccine for Pertussis
1927 – First vaccine for Tuberculosis
1927 – First vaccine for Tetanus
1928 – Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1929 – Hans Berger discovers human electroencephalography
1932 – Gerhard Domagk develops a chemotherapeutic cure for streptococcus
1933 – Manfred Sakel discovers insulin shock therapy
1935 – Ladislas J. Meduna discovers metrazol shock therapy
1935 – First vaccine for Yellow Fever
1936 – Egas Moniz discovers prefrontal lobotomy for treating mental diseases; Enrique
Finochietto develops the now ubiquitous selfretaining thoracic retractor
1938 – Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini discover electroconvulsive therapy
1943 – Willem J Kolff build the first dialysis machine
1944 Disposable Catheter David S. Sheridan
1946 Chemotherapy Alfred G. Gilman and Louis S.Goodman
1947 Defibrillator Claude Beck
1948 Acetaminophen Julius Axelrod, Bernard Brodie
1949 – First implant of intraocular lens, by Sir Harold Ridley
1949 mechanical assistor for anesthesia John Emerson
1952 – Jonas Salk develops the first polio vaccine (available in 1955)
1952 Cloning Robert Briggs &; Thomas King
1953 HeartLung Machine Dr John Heysham Gibbon
1953 Medical Ultrasonography Inge Edler
1954 Joseph Murray performs the first human kidney transplant (on identical twins)
1954 Ventouse Tage Malmstrom
1955 Tetracycline Lloyd Conover
1956 Metered Dose Inhaler 3M
1957 – William Grey Walter invents the brain EEG topography (toposcope)
1958 Pacemaker Rune Elmqvist
1959 In Vitro Fertilization Min Chueh Chang
1960 – Invention of Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
1960 – First combined oral contraceptive approved by the FDA[91]
1962 Hip Replacement John Charnley
1962 Beta Blocker James W. Black
1962 – First Oral Polio Vaccine (Sabin)
1963 Artificial Heart Paul Winchell
1963 Thomas Starzl performs the first human liver transplant
1963 James Hardy performs the first human lung transplant
1963 Valium (diazepam) Leo H Sternbach
1964 – First vaccine for Measles
1965 – Frank Pantridge installs the first portable defibrillator
1965 – First commercial ultrasound
1966 C. Walton Lillehei performs the first human pancreas transplant
1966 Rubella Vaccine Harry Martin Meyer and Paul D. Parkman[92]
1967 – First vaccine for Mumps
1967 – Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant
1968 Powered Prothesis Samuel Alderson
1968 Controlled Drug Delivery Alejandro Zaffaron
1969 Internet Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA)
1969 Balloon Catheter Thomas Fogarty
1969 Cochlear Implant William House
1970 Cyclosporine, the first effective immunosuppressive drug is introduced in organ
transplant practice
1971 Genetically Modified Organisms Ananda Chakrabart
1971 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Raymond Vahan Damadian
1971 Computed Tomography (CT or CAT Scan) Godfrey Hounsfield
1971 Transdermal Patches Alejandro Zaffaroni
1971 – Sir Godfrey Hounsfield invents the first commercial CT scanner
1972 Insulin Pump Dean Kamen
1973 Laser Eye Surgery (LASIK) Mani Lal Bhaumik
1974 Liposuction Giorgio Fischer
1976 – First commercial PET scanner
1978 – Last fatal case of smallpox[93]
1979 Antiviral Drugs George Hitchings &; Gertrude Elion
1980 – Raymond Damadian builds first commercial MRI scanner
1980 Lithotripter Dornier Research Group
1980 – First vaccine for Hepatitis B Dr Baruch Samuel Blumberg
1981 Artificial Skin John F. Burke &; Ioannis V Yannas
1981 Bruce Reitz performs the first human heartlung combined transplant
1982 Humulin insulin Eli Lilly
Interferon Cloning Sidney Pestka
1985 Automated DNA Sequencer Leroy Hood &; Lloyd Smith
1985 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Kaery Mullis
1985 Surgical Robot Dr Yik San Kwoh
1985 DNA Fingerprinting Alec Jeffreys
1985 Capsule Endoscopy Tarun Mullick
1986 Fluoxetine HCl Eli Lilly and Co
1987 – Ben Carson, leading a 70member medical team in Germany, was the first to
separate occipital craniopagus twins.
1987 commercially available Statins Merck &; Co.
1987 Tissue Engineering Joseph Vacanti &; Robert Langer
1988 Intravascular Stent Julio Palmaz
1988 Laser Cataract Surgery Dr Patricia Bath
1989 Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) Alan Handyside
1989 DNA Microarray Stephen Fodor
1990 Gamow Bag ® Dr Igor Gamow
1992 – First vaccine for Hepatitis A available[94]
1992 Electroactive polymers (Artificial Muscle) SRI International
1992 Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) Andre van Steirteghem
1996 Dolly the Sheep cloned
1998 Stem Cell Therapy James Thomson
2000 – present
26 June 2000 Human Genome draft completed
2001 Telesurgery Jacques Marescaux
2003 – Carlo Urbani, of Doctors without Borders alerted the World Health Organization to
the threat of the SARS virus, triggering the most effective response to an epidemic in
history. Urbani succumbs to the disease himself in less than a month.
2005 – JeanMichel Dubernard performs the first partial face transplant
2006 – First HPV vaccine approved
2006 – Second rotavirus vaccine approved (first was withdrawn)
2007 Visual prosthetic (bionic eye) Argus II
2008 – Laurent Lantieri performs the first full face transplant
2013 First kidney grown in vitro in the U.S.
2013 First human liver grown from stem cells in Japan
2014 Great Ebola Outbreak First cases and deaths in Europe and America
