Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with May 6.

Events

1897 – John Jacob Abel (1854-1938) presented to the Association of American Physicians his work on an adrenal extract pressor naming the active principle “Epinephrin”

Acting on Hyrtl’s suggestion that epinephris would be the best name for the suprarenal capsule, the author has given the name Epinephrin to the active principle as isolated by him.

Abel 1899

Note: It was later recognised that Epinephrin (C₁₇H₁₅NO₄) was a benzoyl (monobenzoyl) derivative rather than the pure active hormone (C₉H₁₃NO₃ Adrenalin) which was obtained in crystalline form by Takamine in 1901.

1954 – Sir Roger Bannister (1929–2018), a St Mary’s Hospital medical student, ran the first sub-four-minute mile at Iffley Road, Oxford, finishing in 3:59.4

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Births

1830 – Abraham Jacobi (1830-1919), German-born, American-practising pediatrician; widely regarded as the “Father of American Pediatrics.”

1888 – Walther Müller (1888–1949), German orthopedic surgeon; described Müller-Weiss syndrome (MWS) (1927) and Müller-Ribbing-Clément syndrome (1939) 

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Deaths

1916 – Hans Chiari (1851-1916), Austrian pathologist; described Budd–Chiari syndrome (1899), Arnold–Chiari malformation (1896)

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Further reading

• Cadogan M. Adrenaline or epinephrine?. LITFL
• Sir Roger Bannister Academy of Achievement