|  | Alternative Medicine | Alexander Technique

Major Medical Breakthroughs: 16th–21st Century Milestones

A chronological timeline of pivotal discoveries that shaped modern medicine:

16th Century

  • 1543: Andreas Vesalius publishes De humani corporis fabrica—first accurate human anatomy atlas.
  • 1530s–40s: Paracelsus pioneers iatrochemistry (chemical remedies over humoral theory).
  • 1545: Ambroise Paré introduces ligature for hemorrhage control, replacing cautery.

17th Century

  • 1628: William Harvey describes systemic circulation (De Motu Cordis).
  • 1670s: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observes microorganisms with single-lens microscope.
  • 1665: Robert Hooke coins "cell" in Micrographia.

18th Century

  • 1747: James Lind's controlled trial: citrus prevents scurvy (first clinical trial).
  • 1796: Edward Jenner develops smallpox vaccine (cowpox inoculation).
  • 1760s: Leopold Auenbrugger invents percussion; Laennec later invents stethoscope (1816).

19th Century

  • 1840s: Anesthesia (ether, chloroform) enables painless surgery.
  • 1847: Ignaz Semmelweis proves handwashing reduces puerperal fever.
  • 1860s: Louis Pasteur establishes germ theory; Joseph Lister applies antisepsis.
  • 1882: Robert Koch isolates TB bacillus; formulates Koch's postulates.
  • 1895: Wilhelm Röntgen discovers X-rays.
  • 1897: Felix Hoffmann synthesizes aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid).

20th Century

  • 1921: Banting & Best isolate insulin.
  • 1928/1940s: Fleming discovers penicillin; Florey/Chain enable mass production.
  • 1953: Watson, Crick, Franklin, Wilkins elucidate DNA double helix.
  • 1955: Jonas Salk's inactivated polio vaccine; Sabin's oral (1961).
  • 1960s: First heart transplant (Barnard, 1967); CPR standardized.
  • 1970s: CT (Hounsfield), MRI (Lauterbur/Mansfield); IVF (Edwards/Steptoe, 1978).
  • 1983: HIV identified (Montagnier/Gallo).
  • 1985: PCR invented (Kary Mullis).
  • 1990s: Statins, protease inhibitors, targeted cancer therapies emerge.

21st Century

  • 2003: Human Genome Project completed.
  • 2012: CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing (Doudna/Charpentier).
  • 2010s: Immunotherapy (checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T); mRNA vaccines (COVID-19, 2020).
  • 2020s: AlphaFold protein folding; xenotransplantation milestones; AI-driven drug discovery.

Note: Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine (1796) appears only in the 18th century list above; earlier duplicate removed for accuracy.

Alexander Technique - Related Articles