Health & biology · 1846

Surgical anesthesia

William Morton's public ether demonstration in Boston ended the era of fully conscious surgery.

On 16 October 1846 at Massachusetts General Hospital, Morton anaesthetised a patient while a tumour was removed. Painless surgery allowed longer, more careful operations and spread worldwide within months.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 3

Conservation of mass 1789
Scientific method 1620
Vesalius's anatomy 1543

What it led to 1

Antiseptic surgery 1867

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Maternal mortality in the UK since 1847 Latest: 9.84 deaths per 100,000 births (2020) Source: Our World in Data

Life expectancy in the UK since 1543 Latest: 81.3 years (2023) Source: Our World in Data