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Metropolitan Board of Health
In 1866, the Metropolitan Board of Health was developed to help in the fight against Yellow Fever and Cholera. During this time, the lower class citizens of New York were living in deplorable conditions and spreading these diseases uncontrollably.This group used sanitation and quarantine methods to help control the spread of disease. They also made attempt to clean the city and rid New York of the many pigs and goats that roamed free to have a cleaner, safer environment to live in. -
Nursing School at Bellvue Hospital
Bellvue Hospital in New York City founded the first nursing school based on the principles of Florence Nightingale. These principles put a strong emphasis on sanitation and hygiene, and taught nurses to use these guidelines as the basis of their practice. Nightingale outlined the importance of personal hygiene, patient hygiene, and the cleanliness of the air and the sickroom for optimal healing. The first graduating class had 6 pupils. The nursing school remains functioning today. -
First clinical x-ray performed in America
A local Hanover boy who fell while ice skating became the recipient of America's first clinical x-ray. At Dartmouth Medical School, the experiment turned into a ground-breaking advancement in medicine. The exposure of the x-ray lasted approximately 20 minutes, but the end result showed a fractured ulna in the boys' arm. X-rays are commonly used still today to diagnose a variety of ailments, including broken bones and foreign bodies.This finding was a huge step in American Medicine. -
National Tuberculosis Association is founded
Tuberculosis was the most feared disease in the world in 1904. It did not discriminate among its victims. From the elderly to the very young, everyone was at risk. The National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis was founded to help find better ways to prevent and treat Tuberculosis. The first meeting was held in Atlantic City on June 6th, 1904. Although it took most of 50 years, they were successful in developing testing, treatment and prevention of the disease. -
Margaret Sanger opens first birth control clinic in America
In a time when the talk of birth control was taboo, Margaret opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn. It was immediately popular by all women wanting a choice in not having more children, and the waiting room was always full. She was eventually jailed for opening this clinic, because it violated the Comstock Act, which prohibited the sell or circulation of obscene literature or articles of immoral use. Birth control fell into these categories in the eyes of the law. -
Andrew Flemming discovers Penicillin
Andrew Flemming discovered Penicillin by accident, when he noticed that mold was growing on a petri dish that contained the Staph bacteria. The bacteria where the mold was touching, had died, which led to the belief that this mold could treat bacterial infections. Although discovered in London, the United States utilized this knowledge at the beginning of WWII, and by the end of the war was making 650 billion units of Penicillin per month, and using it to treat wounded soldiers.
