1796May, 14
Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox inoculation.
Edward Jenner, (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was a British physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines including creating the smallpox vaccine, the world's first ever vaccine. The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae ('smallpox of the cow'), the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox. He used it in 1798 in the long title of his Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae known as the Cow Pox, in which he described the protective effect of cowpox against smallpox.In the West, Jenner is often called "the father of immunology", and his work is said to have "saved more lives than the work of any other human". In Jenner's time, smallpox killed around 10% of the population, with the number as high as 20% in towns and cities where infection spread more easily. In 1821, he was appointed physician to King George IV, and was also made mayor of Berkeley and justice of the peace. A member of the Royal Society, in the field of zoology he was among the first to describe the brood parasitism of the cuckoo (Aristotle also noted this behavior in History of Animals). In 2002, Jenner was named in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons.
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Events on 1796
- 1Feb
York, Upper Canada
The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York. - 9Mar
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. - 15May
Milan
War of the First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph. - 11Jul
Jay Treaty
The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty. - 17Nov
Battle of the Bridge of Arcole
French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Bridge of Arcole: French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.