Plagues & Pathogens
Epidemics, infections and the discoveries that changed our understanding of disease.
Explore EpidemicsThe Stories That Shaped Modern Medicine
Discover the people, ideas, diseases and breakthroughs that transformed medicine — from ancient remedies to the discoveries that shape healthcare today.
Medicine has a history worth exploring
The medicine we take for granted today was shaped by centuries of discovery, experiment, controversy and occasional accident.
Past Medical History explores those stories — the scientists and physicians who changed our understanding of disease, the epidemics that transformed society, the operations once thought impossible, and the discoveries that changed what medicine could achieve.
Written for anyone curious about how we got from there to here.
Explore by Topic
Follow the history of medicine through four themes — from epidemics and pioneering operations to the people and discoveries that changed medical practice.
Surgery & The Knife
From surgery without anaesthesia to the techniques that transformed the operating theatre.
Examine Surgeries
Medical Pioneers
The physicians, scientists, nurses and innovators whose ideas changed medicine.
Read Biographies
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
The experiments, accidents and insights that reshaped our understanding of the human body.
View InventionsLatest from Past Medical History
Stories from across the history of medicine.
Surgery & The Knife
William Halsted - Cocaine, Morphine, and Surgical Residency
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
The Immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks
Plagues & Pathogens
Togo and the Diphtheria Serum Run
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Explore the archive to discover the diseases, discoveries and people that have shaped the history of medicine.