Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with January 18.

Events

1977 – CDC and microbiologist Joseph McDade announce successful isolation of a previously unknown, rod-shaped bacterium (later named Legionella pneumophila) responsible for the deadly 1976 pneumonia outbreak at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia

1978 – Community obstetrician William ‘Bill” Zavanelli was faced with a shoulder dystocia that he could not resolve by the usual means. The resulting cephalic replacement and delivery method employed is known as the Zavanelli Manoeuvre

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Births

1818 – Ludwig Traube (1818-1876), German physician. Described the Traube sign and Traube ‘double-tone’ (1867), Traube space (1868), Traube phenomenon (1871), and the Traube pulse (1872)

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Deaths

1838 – Henry Earle (1789-1838), English surgeon; described Earle-Volkmann triangle (1829), Earle Fracture bed (1823) and the Earle Shoulder apparatus (1823)

1878 – Józef Dietl (1804–1878), Polish physician’ described Dietl’s crisis (1864)

1908 – Herman Snellen Sr (1834-1908), Dutch ophthalmologist; described Snellen Chart and Optotypes (1862) and the Snellen Fraction (1862)

1913 – George Alexander Gibson (1854-1913), Scottish physician. Described the Gibson murmur (1906) and coined the term Cheyne–Stokes respiration in his article “An Examination of the Phenomena in Cheyne–Stokes Respiration.”

1925 – Clement Dukes (1845-1925), English physician and dermatologist. In his 1900 Lancet article he proposed a fourth childhood exanthem (Dukes disease), clinically distinct from measles (first disease), scarlet fever (second disease), rubella (third disease).

1929 – Francis John Shepherd (1851-1929), Canadian general surgeon; described Shepherd fracture (1882)

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Further reading

• Dukes C. On the confusion of two different diseases under the name of rubella (rose-rash). Lancet 1900; 156(4011): 89-95
• McDade JE, Shepard CC, Fraser DW, Tsai TR, Redus MA, Dowdle WR. Legionnaires’ disease: isolation of a bacterium and demonstration of its role in other respiratory disease. N Engl J Med. 1977 Dec 1;297(22):1197-203
• McDade JE, Brenner DJ, Bozeman FM. Legionnaires’ disease bacterium isolated in 1947. Ann Intern Med. 1979 Apr;90(4):659-61