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In one of the only known photos of Abraham Lincoln taken on the day of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln can be seen seated, hatless, just below and to the right of the flag. Lincoln began developing symptoms of smallpox on the train home to Washington, DC.
Presidential Pox, 1863
Researchers continue to debate whether US President Abraham Lincoln was coming down with smallpox as he delivered his famous Gettysburg Address, and if he had been immunized.
Presidential Pox, 1863
Presidential Pox, 1863

Researchers continue to debate whether US President Abraham Lincoln was coming down with smallpox as he delivered his famous Gettysburg Address, and if he had been immunized.

Researchers continue to debate whether US President Abraham Lincoln was coming down with smallpox as he delivered his famous Gettysburg Address, and if he had been immunized.

disease & medicine, history, Foundations

Bile and Potatoes, 1921
Jef Akst | Apr 1, 2021 | 3 min read
One hundred years after its invention, BCG has stood the test of time as a vaccine against tuberculosis.
Introducing Inoculation, 1721
Max Kozlov | Jan 1, 2021 | 4 min read
As a deadly smallpox outbreak ravaged Boston, one of the city’s leaders advocated for a preventive measure he’d learned about from Onesimus, an enslaved man.
Coronavirus Closeup, 1964
Ashley Yeager | Sep 1, 2020 | 3 min read
Electron microscopy revealed that a deadly disease of birds was not a form of flu, but a different type of virus entirely.
Jean Macnamara’s Multiple Causes, 1931
Catherine Offord | Jul 13, 2020 | 3 min read
The medical scientist made important contributions to polio treatment and Australian environmental policy—despite substantial resistance.
a drawing of one of Ruysch's creations, featuring fetal skeletons
Deathly Displays, circa 1662–1731
Sukanya Charuchandra | Dec 1, 2019 | 3 min read
Frederik Ruysch’s collections blended specimens for scientific discovery with macabre art.
Wine Therapy, Middle Ages
Kerry Grens | Oct 1, 2019 | 3 min read
The beverage was a popular tonic and antiseptic.
From Chemical Weapon to Chemotherapy, 1917–1946
Carolyn Wilke | Apr 1, 2019 | 3 min read
Mustard gas blistered men’s bodies on the battlefield, but paved the way for cancer-fighting drugs.
Charting Crescents, 1910
Sukanya Charuchandra | Oct 1, 2018 | 3 min read
James Herrick, a Chicago doctor, was the first to describe sickled red blood cells in a patient of African descent.
black and white photo of two men working at a lab bench
The Discovery of Streptomycin
Terry Sharrer | Aug 1, 2007 | 2 min read
The mass manufacture of penicillin during World War II stimulated urgent interest in other medicinally important soil microorganisms.
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