February 23 – On This Day in Medical History

Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with February 23.

Events

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Births

1801 – James Hope (1801-1841), English physician and cardiologist; described Hope sign (1832)

1808 – George Budd (1808-1882), English physician; described Budd–Chiari syndrome (1845) and Budd cirrhosis

1936 – William Henry Battle (1855-1936), English surgeon; described Battle sign (1890), Battle incision (1895) and Battle operation (1901)

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Deaths

1908– Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch (1823-1908), German Surgeon; inventor of the Esmarch bandage

1945 – Alberto Gutiérrez (1892-1945), Argentine surgeon; inventor of the Hanging Drop technique in epidural anaesthesia (1933)

1963 – William Wayne Babcock Jr (1872-1963), American surgeon. Remembered for the Babcock forceps, Babcock-Quincke spinal needle, Babcock operation, and “soup bone” cranioplasty.

1964 – Eli Moschcowitz (1879-1964), Hungarian born, American pathologist and physician. Described Moschcowitz syndrome [Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP)] in 1924, Moschcowitz triad (1933), Moschcowitz sign (1933), and was a forerunner in the development of psychosomatic medicine

1972 – Francis John Murphy (1900-1972), American anaesthetist; developed the Murphy Endotracheal Tube and the Murphy eye (1941)

1973 – Dickinson Woodruff Richards, Jr. (1895-1973), American physician. Awarded Nobel prize for work in development of cardiac catheterisation and physiology with André Frédéric Cournand and Werner Theodore Otto Forßman.

2006 – Catherine Annie Neill (1921-2006), English pediatric cardiologist; described Neill-Dingwall syndrome [Cockayne syndrome] (1950) and Scimitar syndrome (1960)

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Further reading