From cows to controversy, the smallpox vaccine triumphed. Not malaria. Not cholera. Not AIDS, influenza, measles, or tuberculosis. Not even bubonic plague. No disease in history has destroyed more lives than the “speckled monster,” smallpox. The pattern repeated itself in every empire: Egyptian, Hittite, Greek, Roman, Ottoman, and Chinese. Outbreaks always started subtly, with flu-like[…]
Finding pockets of hope in the great flu pandemic. On September 12, 1918, Dr. Royal S. Copeland put the entire Port of New York City under quarantine. As health commissioner, he needed a way to keep what looked to be a nasty influenza from infiltrating the city. During the previous five weeks, a few dozen sick passengers and sailors aboard the[…]
The toxic properties of arsenic were known by Hippocrates in 370 BCE. By John Frith Introduction Arsenic is a substance that has been well known to both the ‘healer’ and the ‘poisoner’ throughout history. It is ubiquitous in our environment and it is a potent neurological and liver toxin as well as a lung, bladder[…]
In 1495 an epidemic of a new and terrible disease broke out among the soldiers of Charles VIII of France. By John Frith Introduction “If I were asked which is the most destructive of all diseases I should unhesitatingly reply, it is that which for some years has been raging with impunity … What contagion[…]
The first legal text is the Law of the Twelve Tables, dating from the mid-5th century BCE. Introduction Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the Corpus Juris Civilis (AD 529) ordered by Eastern[…]
One of the earliest dateable events in Athenian history is the creation of the Draconian law code, c.620 BCE. Introduction Ancient Greek law consists of the laws and legal institutions of Ancient Greece. The existence of certain general principles of law is implied by the custom of settling a difference between two Greek states, or[…]
Parents around the country are facing uncertainty and anxiety about the coronavirus or Covid-19 and that’s paired with the fact that schools around the country are canceled for at least the next few weeks. In that time, parents are encouraged to continue helping their children learn, but it’s challenging to know where to start with[…]