Jenner Vaccinates Boy: The Birth of Modern Immunology
Edward Jenner inoculated eight-year-old James Phipps with cowpox pus on May 14, 1796, proving the milkmaid's immunity could shield humans from smallpox. This single experiment transformed a risky folk practice into a reliable medical standard that eventually eradicated a disease killing one in five people.
May 14, 1796
230 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on May 14
Robert II was dying, and his kingdom was about to tear itself apart. The old Capetian king had already watched one son rebel against him—his firstborn Hugh, co-…
The Byzantine emperor's ships were already in the lake. Alexios I had secretly sailed a fleet overland—dragged on wheeled platforms, piece by piece—to cut off N…
Simon de Montfort's forces captured King Henry III at Lewes and compelled him to sign the Mise of Lewes, surrendering royal authority to a council of barons. De…
The mellah in Fez had walls for a reason. When the Marinid sultan fell in 1465, those walls didn't hold. Rioters poured through during three days of upheaval th…
He was thirteen years old and already losing his hair—a genetic curse that would earn Charles VIII the nickname "Charles the Affable" because what else could yo…
French forces crushed the Venetian army at the Battle of Agnadello, halting the Republic of Venice’s expansion onto the Italian mainland. This defeat forced the…
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