Anesthesia changes the possibilities of surgery

The date marks Phipps’s cowpox inoculation, not the later challenge that tested whether he was protected.

The experiment helped develop a distinct smallpox vaccine; variolation had already been practiced in Asia and parts of Africa.

Morton administered ether while Warren operated on Abbott at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Abbott was the patient in a highly publicized demonstration; earlier ether procedures also existed.

The public operation helped spread the use of inhaled anesthesia in surgery.

At a gathering in Edinburgh, Simpson, Keith and Duncan inhaled chloroform and observed its anesthetic effects.

The dated self-experiment helped lead to chloroform use in surgery and childbirth, with safety risks recognized later.

The testing involved several participants; its subsequent publicity focused heavily on Simpson.

The 4 November episode concerned preliminary self-testing, not a documented operation on a patient.

After Snow presented evidence about cholera cases, the local authorities disabled the water pump.