Historical Figure
Typhoid Mary
1869–1938
Irish cook who was a carrier of typhoid fever in New York
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Biography
Mary Mallon, commonly known as Typhoid Mary, was an Irish-born cook who lived in the United States from a young age and is believed to have infected up to fifty-seven people with the bacteria that cause typhoid fever. The infections caused three confirmed deaths. She was the first person in the U.S. to be identified as an asymptomatic carrier of Salmonella Typhi bacteria.
Timeline
The story of Typhoid Mary, told in moments.
Born Mary Mallon in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. Emigrated to the United States as a teenager. Worked as a cook for wealthy New York families. Good at her job. No one suspected anything.
Identified by epidemiologist George Soper as an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever. She'd infected at least seven households. Forcibly quarantined on North Brother Island in the East River. She was 38 and had never felt sick.
Released after agreeing never to cook again and to report to health authorities quarterly. Changed her name and went straight back to cooking. Five years later, another outbreak.
Traced to a typhoid outbreak at Sloane Maternity Hospital. 25 cases, two deaths. Returned to North Brother Island. This time permanently. She'd infected at least 57 people, three confirmed dead.
Died on North Brother Island at 69. Had lived there 23 years. Pneumonia, after a stroke left her bedridden for six years. Over 400 other asymptomatic typhoid carriers were identified during her confinement. None were quarantined as long.
Artifacts (14)
just been filling in for the last fifteen years
er formally invited to join the Who permanently; when Ringo Starr asked how he had joined the band, he said he had "just been filling in for the last fifteen years". Moon's arrival in the Who changed...
completely different person to anyone I've ever met
really have absolutely nothing in common apart from music", he said in a later interview. Although Townshend described him as a "completely different person to anyone I've ever met", the pair had a...
You didn't think he was keeping time, but he was.
rapher Tony Fletcher suggesting that the timing on Tommy was "all over the place". Who producer Jon Astley said, "You didn't think he was keeping time, but he was." In the opinion of Atkins, early...
Dear boy, do exactly as you feel it should be, but that's the way I want it.
e a white kit with gold-plated fittings. When Haynes said that it would be prohibitively expensive, Moon replied: "Dear boy, do exactly as you feel it should be, but that's the way I want it." The kit...
has great ability, but must guard against a tendency to show off.
art teacher said in a report: "Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects." His music teacher wrote that Moon "has great ability, but must guard against a tendency to show off." Moon joined his...
There isn't any legitimate reason for this album's existence.
y I'm not about to accept Two Sides of the Moon." Dave Marsh, reviewing the album in Rolling Stone, wrote: "There isn't any legitimate reason for this album's existence." During one of his few...
Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects.
failing his eleven plus exam, which precluded his attending a grammar school. His art teacher said in a report: "Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects." His music teacher wrote that Moon...
We really have absolutely nothing in common apart from music
t was more of an emotional spur-of-the moment thing." Moon also clashed with Daltrey and Townshend: "We really have absolutely nothing in common apart from music", he said in a later interview....
just instinctively put drum fills in places that other people would never have t...
e'd play zig-zag. That's why he had two sets of tom-toms. He'd move his arms forward like a skier." Daltrey said that Moon "just instinctively put drum fills in places that other people would never...
Moonie, if you didn't have talent, I wouldn't care; but you have, which is why I...
actor-musician Miguel Ferrer). The album was received poorly by critics. New Musical Express's Roy Carr wrote, "Moonie, if you didn't have talent, I wouldn't care; but you have, which is why I'm not...
John [Entwistle] and I used to have fights—it wasn't very serious, it was more o...
's temperament the group now had four members frequently in conflict. "We used to fight regularly", remembered Moon in later years. "John [Entwistle] and I used to have fights—it wasn't very serious,...
He'd play zig-zag. That's why he had two sets of tom-toms. He'd move his arms fo...
tended to play faster or slower according to his mood. "He wouldn't play across his kit", he later added. "He'd play zig-zag. That's why he had two sets of tom-toms. He'd move his arms forward like a...
A set of skins is about $300 [then £96] and after every show he'd just go bang, ...
r his drums, claiming that he did so in exasperation at an audience's indifference. Townshend later said, "A set of skins is about $300 [then £96] and after every show he'd just go bang, bang, bang...
), he claimed to his would-be bandmates that he could play better; he played in ...
nd with his hair dyed ginger (future bandmate Pete Townshend later described him as a "ginger vision"), he claimed to his would-be bandmates that he could play better; he played in the set's second...
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