March 22 – On This Day in Medical History
Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with March 22.
Events
1687 – Death by musical misadventure. Composer and court musician Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) died from gangrene after injuring his foot while conducting with a heavy staff (an early baton) during a Te Deum celebrating Louis XIV’s recovery. Amputation was advised but refused, and the infection progressed fatally.
Births
1909 – Margaret Burton Horan (1909-2004), Australian paediatrician; described Nance-Horan syndrome (1974)
2004 – Freida ‘Yarmalinsky‘ Young (1910-2004), English physician and pathologist; described Dyke-Young anaemia (1938)
Deaths
1924 – Sir William Macewen (1848–1924), Scottish surgeon and pioneer of modern neurosurgery. Described Macewen’s Sign (1893), Macewen’s Osteotomy and Macewen’s Osteotome (1879) and Macewen’s Triangle (1893)
1927 – Charles Foix (1882-1927), French neurologist. Described Marie–Foix Syndrome (1913), Foix-Alajouanine syndrome (1926), and Marie–Foix–Alajouanine syndrome (1922)
1953 – Alfred Fröhlich (1871-1953), Austrian neurologist; described Babinski–Fröhlich Syndrome (1901)
1962 – Herbert Merton Greene (1878-1962), American physician who linked post-lumbar puncture headache to dural trauma and designed the Greene needle
1993 – Edith Louise Potter (1901-1993), American pediatric pathologist. Described Potter facies of renal agenesis (1946) and the Potter classification of polycystic kidney disease (1964)
Further reading
- A fateful anniversary for Lully Your Classical, January 8, 2025
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. Editor-in-Chief and Webmaster of Life in the Fast lane, LITFL | On Call 4e| Eponyms | Books | Horology |

