History of medicine: 19th century

History of medicine: 18th century

1800s decade

• 1804: Morphine discovered. 
• 1804: First general anaesthesic formulation. First surgical procedure under general anaesthetic performed: a partial mastectomy.  

1810s decade

• 1810: First book published on modern methods of food preservation. 
• 1816: Invention of the stethoscope. 

1830s decade

• 1832: Codeine discovered. 

1840s decade

• 1842: First painless operation with diethyl ether performed.
• 1846: First successful public demonstration of surgery with anaesthesia (diethyl ether).
• 1847: Ignaz Semmelweis recognised that a contagious agent spreads puerperal fever around the hospital. He demonstrated that sanitary practice can minimise patient deaths.
• 1848: The case of Phineas Gage demonstrates the localisation of brain function and the relationship between mind and body.  

1850s decade

• 1853: First artificial synthesis of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin).
• 1858: First publication of Gray's Anatomy. This continues to be a best-selling medical textbook in 2019.
• 1858: Rudolph Virchow publishes a seminal cell pathology book.

1860s decade

• 1860: First recognition of cells as the agent of cancer metastasis. 
• 1860: Florence Nightingale opens the first official training programme for nurses: the Nightingale School for Nurses, in London, UK.
• 1864: First body-enclosing ventilator system invented.
• 1868: First modern law for drug regulation passed: the United Kingdom Pharmacy Act 1868.
• 1869: First pinch graft technique for skin grafting developed.
• 1869: DNA first isolated (at first it was called nuclein). 

1880s decade

• 1881: First modern Caesarean section performed.
• 1883: First transplantation: thyroid tissue implantation to treat iatrogenic and primary hypothyroidism. 
• 1889: First artificial cardiac pacing performed.
  

1890s decade

• 1890: Robert Koch published Koch's postulates, four criteria to find a causative relationship between a micro-organism and a disease.
• 1890: First antitoxin (against diphtheria) produced. 
  
• 1894: Invention of the self-illuminated endoscope.
• 1895: First discovery of X-rays.
• 1896: First medical image recorded with X-rays.
• 1896: First use of radiotherapy to treat cancer.
• 1898: First recognition of viruses as a new form of infectious agent.
• 1890: Robert Koch published Koch's postulates, four criteria to find a causative relationship between a micro-organism and a disease. 

1900s decade

• 1900: Pfannenstiel published reports about his eponymous incision technique.

History of medicine: 20th century