On this day

12 October in history.

5 moments from 1799 to 2019: discovery, creativity and courage, each with a source to read more.

5 moments

This photograph shows an opened artificial respirator commonly known as the iron lung. Polio patients of the 1950s depended on these devices to breathe after being paralyzed with this devastating virus. This iron lung was donated to the CDC’s Global Health Odyssey by the family…

1928

The iron lung saves its first patient. At Boston Children's Hospital, doctors used an iron lung for the first time, helping an eight-year-old girl who had been paralysed by polio to breathe.

Wikipedia: Iron lung

Photo: Photo Credit: Content Providers(s): CDC/GHO/Mary Hilpertshauser / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

More from 12 October

  1. Monsieur André-Jacques and Madame Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin etching 13.1 x 13 cm (plate) made in Germany

    1799

    Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin makes the first parachute jump by a woman

    Riding in the basket beneath a hot-air balloon, Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin dropped 900 metres (3,000 feet) under a parachute. No woman had made a parachute descent before.

    Wikipedia: Jeanne Geneviève GarnerinWikipedia: ParachuteWikipedia: Hot air balloon

    Photo: Christoph Haller von Hallerstein / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  2. The centre of Uddevalla (in Sweden), picture taken from Skansberget

    1890

    A Swedish town organises for everyone's vote

    People in Uddevalla, Sweden, founded the Uddevalla Suffrage Association to work for the right to vote for all.

    Wikipedia: Uddevalla Suffrage AssociationWikipedia: UddevallaWikipedia: Universal suffrage

    Photo: User Greverod on sv.wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

  3. Students pledging to the flag, 1899, 8th Division, Washington, D.C. Part of the Frances Benjamin Johnston 1890 - 1900 Washington, D.C., school survey.

    1892

    Schools first say the Pledge of Allegiance

    American public schools used the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time, timed with the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

    Wikipedia: Pledge of AllegianceWikipedia: World's Columbian Exposition

    Photo: Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) photographer / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  4. Berlin Marathon 2015 Kipchoge, Eliud (KEN)

    2019

    Eliud Kipchoge runs a marathon in under two hours

    In Vienna, Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, finishing in 1:59:40.

    Wikipedia: Eliud KipchogeWikipedia: MarathonWikipedia: Ineos 1:59 Challenge

    Photo: Denis Barthel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Moments chosen for discovery, creativity and courage. Each one links to a source where you can read more; photos are credited to their owners.