Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with March 1.

Events

1864 – Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831-1895) became the first African American woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, from the New England Female Medical College

1944 – Pfizer opened the world’s first commercial plant for the large-scale production of penicillin through submerged fermentation in Brooklyn, New York

1999 – Self-Injury Awareness Day (SIAD), a grassroots annual global awareness event raising awareness about self-injury launched with LifeSIGNS. Awareness leads to understanding and empathy, banishing judgment and fear, and reducing the number of people who feel alone and suffer in silence.

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Births

1874 – Alban Köhler (1874-1947), German Radiologist; described Köhler-Pellegrini-Stieda lesion (1905), Köhler disease (1908), and Freiberg-Köhler disease  (1915)

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Deaths

1934 – Adolphe Pinard (1844–1934), French obstetrician. Described Pinard Obstetric Palpation and the Pinard horn (1895) [Stéthoscope obstétrical de Pinard] as well as numerous Pinard obstetric instruments and models. Designed the Pinard labour suites at Tarnier.

1944 – Jean-François Calot (1861-1944) was a French surgeon; described Calot’s Triangle (cystohepatic triangle) (1890)

1982 – Louise Littig Sloan (1898-1982, American ophthalmologist. Designed the Sloan Test (1946), and the Sloan Optotypes and the Standardisation of Visual Acuity Testing (1952)

1989 – Mark Mitchell Ravitch (1910–1989), American surgeon. Described The Ravitch Procedure for chest wall deformities (1949) and non-operative management of intussusception (1948). He pre-empted Stigler’s Law of Eponymy with his 1979 publication “Dupuytren’s invention of the Mikulicz enterotome with a note on eponyms”

1989 – William Bennett Bean (1909-1989), American physician; described Bean syndrome (1958)

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Further reading

• Rebecca Lee Crumpler. National Women’s History Museum
• Discovery and Development of Penicillin. ACS

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