August 8 – On This Day in Medical History
Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with August 8.
Events
1993 — Australian Commonwealth Minister for Health approved Emergency Medicine as a principal medical specialty. A significant milestone for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) and the formal recognition of emergency care in Australia and New Zealand
Births
1762 – Giovanni Battista Montéggia (1762-1815), Italian surgeon; described Montegia Fracture (1812). First to describe the pathology of gonorrhoeal arthritis, Annotazioni pratiche sopra i mali venerei (1794), an observation for which Sir Benjamin Brodie is usually credited.
1763 — Thomas Spens (1763-1842), Scottish physician provided first written description of Stokes-Adams syndrome (1792)
1835 – Thomas George Morton (1835-1903), American general surgeon; described Morton neuroma (1876) and performed the first intentional appendicectomy for acute appendicitis in which the patient survived (April 27, 1887)
1914 — William Alexander McRoberts Jr (1914-2006), American obstetrician; described McRoberts Manoeuvre as a first-line procedure in the management of shoulder dystocia
Deaths
1903 – Karel Maydl (1853-1903), Czech surgeon; described Maydl’s hernia (1898), Maydl’s Operation [Colostomy] (1883), and Maydl’s Method
1996 – Harry Angelman (1915-1996), English paediatrician; described Angelman syndrome (1965)
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. Editor-in-Chief and Webmaster of Life in the Fast lane, LITFL | On Call 4e| Eponyms | Books | Horology |