Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with August 16.

Events

1898 – August Bier (1861-1949) performed the first clinical spinal (intrathecal) anaesthetic. He injected 3 mL of 0.5% cocaine after lumbar puncture to produce profound analgesia and motor block in a 34-year-old man with disseminated tuberculosis, requiring partial leg amputation. According to Bier, the man reported having no feeling in the lower half of his body, remained conscious throughout the operation and informed Bier that he had not felt any pain.

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Births

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

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Deaths

1893 – Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), French neurologist and anatomopathologist; described Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (1886), Charcot disease (maladie de Charcot) (1868), Charcot-Weiss-Baker syndrome (1872), Charcot Triad (1879), and Erb-Charcot syndrome

1911 – Georges-Paul Dieulafoy (1839-1911) was a French physician; described Dieulafoy lesion (1898), Dieulafoy’s Triad (I and II), and invented the Dieulafoy aspirator (1869)

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Further reading

• Bier A. Versuche über Cocainisirung des Rückenmarkes. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Chirurgie 1899; 51: 361. [Translated: Experiments Regarding the Cocainization of the Spinal Cord. Survey of Anesthesiology 1962; 6: 352–358]