| Date | Text | |
|---|---|---|
25 Apr 1853
William Beaumont |
death William Beaumont Died 25 Apr 1853 at age 67 (born 21 Nov 1785). American army surgeon who was the first person to observe and study human digestion as it occurs in the stomach. As a young army surgeon stationed on Mackinac Island in Michigan, Beaumont was asked to treat a shotgun wound. The wound was "more than the size of the palm of a man's hand," Beaumont wrote. The patient, Alexis St. Martin, survived but was left with a permanent opening into his stomach from the outside. Over the next few years, Dr. Beaumont used this crude fistula to sample gastric secretions. He identified hydrochloric acid as the principal agent in gastric juice and recognized its digestive and bacteriostatic functions. Moreover, many of his conclusions about the regulation of secretion and motility remain valid to this day. |
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25 Apr 1853
John Frank Stevens |
birth John Frank Stevens Born 25 Apr 1853; died 2 Jun 1943 at age 90. American civil engineer and railroad executive who, as chief engineer of the Panama Canal from late 1905 to Apr 1907, laid the basis for that project's successful completion. He was recognized as the world's foremost railway civil engineer when he arrived on the Isthmus in 1905. The fundamental problem that he faced was one of restoring confidence and morale. A yellow fever epidemic, followed by the unexpected resignation of the first Chief Engineer, John F. Wallace, had made the Canal Zone a scene of chaos and hysteria. He found no order, no plan on the job. He planned the main features of the waterway and lobbied openly in May and June 1906 for a high-level, lock-type canal. On 29 Jun 1906, the President's signature put into that plan into law. |
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