Industrial Age · North America · Science
1842
Ether Used as Anesthetic by Crawford Long
May 1842
In Jefferson, Georgia, Dr. Crawford Long administered sulfuric ether to James Venable before excising a neck tumor - the first surgical use of modern anesthesia. Long, a country doctor, neglected to publish. William Morton's 1846 demonstration in Boston would steal the glory. But in a quiet Georgia office, surgery had already stopped screaming.
In context
Also in 1842 (3 other events on record)
- Treaty of Nanking · East Asia · Politics
- Mormon Migration Prelude · North America · Religion
- Retreat From Kabul Ends · Central Asia · War
Before and after in North America
- Before: 1841: Whig Party Collapse
- After: 1843: Ether Anesthesia Glimpsed
Before and after in Science
Era
Industrial Age (1801–1900), one of 513 events from that era on Saeculum.