August 12, 1865

Posted on August 12, 2019 by Joel Byers

On August 12, 1865, British surgeon, Dr. Joseph Lister used a disinfectant for the first time during surgery. Not only did he use carbolic acid to sterilize the patient’s wound, but he also used it to sterilize his surgical equipment, which was practically unheard of at the time. They used to think that just scraping the old blood and various fleshy bits off the equipment was good enough. Dr. Lister’s patient survived both the surgery and recovery, which is where many patients would later die. Lister became known as the pioneer of antiseptic surgery and later had a mouthwash named after him, Listerine.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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