science · 29 August 1809 · 215 years ago
birth
Born 29 Aug 1809; died 7 Oct 1894 at age 85.
American physician and writer was best-known as an essayist-poet, but in medicine was famous for his 1843 article 'The Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever,' concerning the high mortality of women giving birth in hospitals. He asserted that the infection was carried from patient to patient by physicians and nurses. Because that defied the conventional wisdom, he received abuse from the obstetricians of the time. (A few years later, Ignaz Semmelweiss demonstrated the importance of hand-washing and hygiene. Before them, John Burton in 1751, and Charles White in 1773 had suspected the role of medical attendants.) Holmes coined the term “anesthesia,” from Greek words meaning “no feeling”. He was the father of the Supreme Court judge of the same name.
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