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

Events

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Births

1675 – James 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

1861 – Alessandro 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)

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

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Deaths

1944 – Carl Koller (1857-1944), Austrian-born American ophthalmologist. Established cocaine as the first practical local anaesthetic for clinical use in 1884

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

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Further reading