Moments in Time: First vaccination
The History Channel
On May 14, 1796, Edward Jenner, an English country doctor, gave the first vaccination against smallpox to 8-year-old James Phipps. While he did not discover vaccination, he was the first person to confer scientific status on the procedure and to pursue its scientific investigation. His work is widely considered the foundation of immunology.
On May 8, 1912, Adolph Zukor founded the Famous Players Film Company, now known as Paramount Pictures. With partners Daniel and Charles Frohman, he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the middle class. The company's first film was "Les Amours de la Reine Elisabeth," and starred Sarah Bernhardt.
On May 12, 1921, National Hospital Day was first observed on what would have been Florence Nightingale's 101st birthday. Originally a one-day holiday, it turned into a week-long event to educate the public about medical care.
On May 9, 1926, Commander Richard E. Byrd announced that he and his copilot, Floyd Bennett, had made the first flight over the North Pole in Byrd's Fokker tri-motor airplane, the Josephine Ford. While Byrd's navigational records were verified by the U.S. Navy and a committee of the National Geographic Society, some skepticism still remains about the claim.
On May 11, 1978, Margaret A. Brewer became the first female general in the U.S. Marine Corps. Because the Marines did not allow women to achieve such a rank at the time, President Jimmy Carter made a special nomination on her behalf to the grade of brigadier general, which was approved by both houses of Congress.
On May 13, 1983, right fielder Reggie Jackson became the first major league baseball player to strike out 2,000 times. He would eventually retire with a total of 2,597 strikeouts and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
On May 10, 1994, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was baptized by Roy Ratcliff while in prison at Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin, in a whirlpool type of tub normally used for inmates with back issues. Ratcliff continued to meet weekly with Dahmer until the latter's death at the hands of another prisoner.
(c) 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.