Medicine
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The Boston Smallpox Epidemic, 1721
The Boston Smallpox Epidemic, 1721 A Narrative of the Method and Success of Inoculating the Small-Pox in New England, 1722. From the holdings of Houghton Library—Harvard College Library. Between April and December 1721, 5,889 Bostonians had smallpox, and 844 died of it. October was the worst month, with 411 deaths. Smallpox caused more than three–quarters of all the deaths in Boston that year. Smallpox is a very old disease, with evidence for its presence going back centuries. In Europe and the United States, bouts of smallpox were considered to be almost inevitable, and the disease was greatly feared. Epidemics could kill 30% of those infected and cause permanent disfiguration in…
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On This Day NYT & The Learning Channel
on April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63. Vice President Harry S Truman became president. Go to article » On April 12, 1903, Jan Tinbergen, the Dutch economist who won the Nobel Prize in 1969 for his work with econometric models, was born. Following his death on June 9, 1994, his obituary appeared in The Times. Go to obituary » | Other birthdays » On This Date 1606 England adopted the Union Jack as its flag. 1861 The Civil War began as Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. 1877 The…
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How Old Viruses May Haunt Us
•IN THE LAB •APRIL 12, 2011 Scientists Study Interplay Between Retroviral Genes and Cancer, Other Diseases By AMY DOCKSER MARCUS The human genome is littered with the genetic remains of ancient viruses that once infected people but now lie dormant. Until recently, scientists didn’t believe they played a role in modern disease. New research is causing many scientists to think again. Recent studies suggest these old virus shards may play a role in Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. The ancient viruses scientists are most interested in date from waves of infections that took place as recently as 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. In modern humans, the…
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The Influenza Pandemic of 1918
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 by Molly Billings, June, 1997 modified RDS February, 2005 The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe” the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster. The Grim Reaper by Louis Raemaekers In the fall of 1918 the Great War in Europe was winding down…