March 21 – On This Day in Medical History

Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with March 21.

Events

No major medical milestones added for this date yet — this page is being expanded


Births

1675James Douglas (1675–1742), Scottish anatomist and obstetrician; described the Pouch of Douglas (1730), and Line of Douglas. Infamously involved in the Curious Case of Mary Toft

1861Alessandro Codivilla (1861-1912), Italian surgeon; original description of the first pancreatic head resection Whipple procedure (1898)

1904 Nicholas Alders (1904-1995), Hungarian born, Austrian trained, English naturalised obstetrician, gynaecologist and surgeon; described Alders sign (1951)

1915Emilio (Emil) Anthony Naclerio (1915-1985), Italian-American Thoracic Surgeon; described Naclerio ‘V sign’ (1957)


Deaths

1977 Herrman Ludwig Blumgart (1895-1977), American physician; described Blumgart-Ernstene murmur (1933) and invented the Blumgart–Yens modified cloud chamber heralded the birth of nuclear medicine instrumentation


Further reading

BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | On Call: Principles and Protocol 4e| Eponyms | Books |