332 Items Tagged

Medicine

Frederick West, Britain's first heart transplant patient.

When Heart Transplant Patients Were Celebrities

In the 1960s, a new heart meant instant fame.

Andy Wright February 13, 2017

In the pharmacy cellar.

Under the Black Eagle Pharmacy Museum

Ukraine's oldest operating pharmacy now offers guests a fascinating walk through apothecary history.

Abul Bajandar earlier this year before several surgeries.

'Tree Man' Is No Longer 'Tree Man'

After more than 16 operations, his hands are fixed.

Erik Shilling January 11, 2017

Dr. James Barry spent almost his entire medical career serving in the British Army, yet his records and work were kept hidden from the public.

military history

Why This Groundbreaking British Doctor Was Almost Erased From the History Books

James Barry's gender identity was a military secret for nearly a century.

Lauren Young December 22, 2016

Civil War Nurses Memorial

Washington, D.C.

Civil War Nurses Memorial

A bas relief commemorates the "Nuns of the Battlefield" who cared for soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

The field hospital after the Battle of Savage Station. Lack of doctors and resources meant that medical conditions were often unhygienic.

How Civil War Soldiers Gave Themselves Syphilis While Trying to Avoid Smallpox

If only someone had warned them not to take a DIY approach.

Mariana Zapata November 30, 2016

Furniture from 1758 to the 1830s.

Székesfehérvár, Hungary

Fekete Sas Patikamúzeum (Black Eagle Pharmacy Museum)

300 years of pharmaceutical history on display.

A votive offering of two hands.

Why Did Ancient Italians Bury Thousands of Clay Body Parts?

Feet, hands, eyes, ears, arms, legs, uteri, heads...thousands upon thousands of body parts.

Sarah Laskow November 18, 2016

Detail of an erotic fresco from Pompeii's preserved House of the Centenary.

The Ancients Used Hyena's Foot for Childbirth—And Identified Copper As a Contraceptive

Ancient Greek and Roman ideas about sex, disease, and contraception were often bizarre, but occasionally prescient.

Lakshmi Ramgopal November 7, 2016

Typical items in an 18th-century kitchen.

In the 1800s, Sick People Would Consult Cookbooks Before Doctors

Need to bake a pie AND cure consumption?

Lauren Young October 28, 2016

Sometimes, patients would dip the sharp needles into the oil.

objects of intrigue

The 1800s Medical Device That Promised Cures by Repeatedly Stabbing Patients

The Life Awakener contraption gave patients "healing" pustules.

Lauren Young October 18, 2016

Scientists Are Growing New Hearts in the Shells of Old Ones

How to regenerate an organ with new cells.

Sarah Laskow October 14, 2016

In 2016, the 'First Legal Ayahuasca Church' Got Shut Down. Was It a Scam—or a New Religion?

A Canadian and a Brit had a vision to serve mind-expanding drugs in America.

Sarah Laskow September 16, 2016

objects of intrigue

The First Ever Stethoscope Was a Simple Wooden Tube

Happy 200th birthday, respiratory instrument!

Atlas Obscura September 6, 2016

Food Testing in 1902 Featured a Bow Tie-Clad 'Poison Squad' Eating Plates of Acid

Why the FDA owes its existence to 12 men eating poisoned meals.

Natalie Zarrelli August 30, 2016

Why Doctors Once Treated Fevers and Hysteria With Mashed-Up Bedbugs

From Ancient Greece through the 18th century, bedbugs were used as medicine.

Natalie Zarrelli August 24, 2016

Death Masks

Worcester, England

George Marshall Medical Museum

Quaint, disturbing, and macabre objects are all on display at this intriguing collection of medical instruments from bygone eras.

Grave of Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen

Giessen, Germany

Grave of Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen

Final resting place of the humble physicist who discovered X-rays, and made the invisible visible.