History of MicrobiologyHistory of Microbiology1600-1699 1700-1749 1750-1799 1800-18491850-1859 1860-1869 1870-1879 1880-1889 1890-18991900-1909 1910-1919 1920-1929 1930-1939 1940-19491950-1959 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999Before 1600Table of Contents2000-2009Ancient Roman EmpireBefore 16001600150014001300120011001000A.D.!"B.C.Ancient Egyptiansdevelop methods ofembalmingAncient Romans developideas about contagiousparticles. They also performfirst recorded acts ofbiological warfare--theydumped rotting corpses intothe water supplies of theirenemies.4300 B.C. Babylonianclay tablets have beerrecipes1348 Black DeathKills 1/3 ofEuropeanpopulation1590 JanssenDevelopscompoundmicroscope600 A.D. Mayans makefermented beverage fromcacao (chocolate)AncientEgyptians1096 Holy Roman Empirebegins the Crusades1120 Firstrestaurant (China)1215 King John of England signsthe Magna Carta (the first set ofwritten, democratic laws)1429 Joan of Arc leads theFrench army against Britishinvaders1596 Firstflush toiletPre-16001600-16991600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 17001603 Shakespearepublishes Hamlet1610 Galileo saysthe Earth revolvesaround the Sun1620 The Mayflowerlands at Plymouth Rock1666 Newtondescribes TheLaw of Gravity1692 Salem WitchTrials1674 Anton von Leeuwenhoekbecomes first person to view livingmicroorganisms. This marks thebeginning of Microbiology.1665 Robert Hooke viewscork through a microscope--coins the term “cell.”1668 Francesco Redi performs the first documentedcontrolled scientific experiment. Covers meat withcheese cloth, and leaves other pieces of meetuncovered. Uncovered meat, exposed to flies,develops maggots. Covered meat does not developmaggots. Redi concludes that adult flies arenecessary for the production of maggots. This is thefirst major blow to the theory of spontaneousgeneration.16001700-17491700 1710 1720 1730 1740 17501735 Linnaeus develops a taxonomyand a naming system (binomialnomenclature) for organisms.1745 John Needham shows that boiledbroth that cools down overnightbecomes richly contaminated withmicroorganisms. He forcefully arguesthe microbes must be borne from thebroth. He publishes a formalpresentation of the Theory ofSpontaneous Generation1712 An early steam engine isinstalled at an English coalmine. This marks thebeginning of the First IndustrialRevolution.1732 Benjamin Franklinbegins publication of PoorRichards Almanac1705 Edmund Halley usesNewtonian laws of motion topredict the return of the cometthat bears his name.1726 Bartolomeo Cristoforidevelops the piano.1726 Jonathon Swiftpublishes Gulliver’s Travels1718 Blackbeard thePirate is killed.17001750-17991750 1760 1770 1780 1790 18001789 Mutiny onthe HMS Bounty1752 Benjamin Franklinflies a kite in a storm toinvestigate the electricalnature of lightning.1770 Ludwig vonBeethoven is born1776 Declaration ofIndependence is signed1787 U.S. Constitutionis signed into law1789 French Revolution1756 Wolfgang AmadeusMozart is born1767 Lazzaro Spallanzani performsexperiments with boiled and unboiledgravy. He shows that boiled gravy willonly spoil if exposed to air. He concludesthat spontaneous generation cannot becorrect.1798 Edward Jenner performs the firstvaccinations against smallpox. He collectsthe pus from cowpox blisters on the handsof milkmaids. He contaminates a lancewith this pus and then cuts the skin ofchildren.17501800-18491800 1810 1820 1830 1840 18501812 Development ofthe first canned foods1818 Mary Shelleypublishes Frankenstein1826 Photography is invented1844 Samuel Morse developsthe first telegraph line.1848 Women’ssuffrage movementbegins in England1848 Marx and Engelspublish the CommunistManifesto1829 England installsfirst municipal waterfiltration system1840 Ignaz Semmelweis putsforth the revolutionary idea thatphysicians should wash theirhands when assisting inchildbirth.1835 Agostino Bassi proves that afungus is the cause of silkwormdisease.1800 Johnny Appleseed arrives inthe Ohio River Valley1800 Washington D.C. is establishedas the capital of the U.S.A.18001850-18591850 1852 1854 1856 1858 18601852 Otisinvents theelevator1854 John Snow identifiescontaminated water as thecause of a cholera epidemic inEngland1859 Charles Darwinpublishes the Origin of Species1857 Louis Pasteur determines thatyeast cause fermentation of wine anddevelops the process ofpasteurization that saves the Frenchwine industry. This marks thebeginning of the Golden Age ofMicrobiology--a period of explosivegrowth of knowledge of microbes(1857-1914).1858 Rudolf Virchow developsthe formal theory that life arisesonly from pre-existing life (laterto be called “biogenesis”.)1851 The first YMCAopens in Boston1857 City of Vancouver,Washington is established1857 U.S. Suprreme Court announces theDred Scott decision: free (non-slave)states do not have the authority to deprivecitizens of their property (slaves)18501860-18691862 1864 1866 18681860 18701865 End of theCivil War1866 Gregor Mendel publishesa study on the inheritance ofcharacteristics in pea plants1861 Louis Pasteur provides the finaldisproof of the theory of spontaneousgeneration. He maintains boiled brothin a swan-necked flask, open to the air,for many days without contamination.1867 Joseph Lister uses phenol(carbolic acid) to treat surgicalwounds. This reduced infectionfrom surgery dramatically andserved as proof that surgicalinfections are caused bymicroorganisms.1861 Civil War begins1865 President AbrahamLincoln is assassinated1869 TheTranscontinentalRailroad connects East andWest U.S.A1869 Mendeleey developsthe Periodic Table ofElements1861 Louis Pasteur, studyingfermentation by yeast, coins theterms aerobic and anaerobic.1866 Given the discovery of microscopicorganisms, Ernst Haeckel proposes a thirdKingdom of Life: The Protista.18601870-18791872 1874 1876 18781870 18801876 Alexander GrahamBell invents the telephone1876 Thomas Edison inventsthe incandescent light bulb1876 Robert Koch, studying the disease, anthrax,validates the Germ Theory of Disease--the idea thatdiseases are caused by infectious agents (not by otherforces such as evil spirits). This is also the first use ofthe rigorous steps in pathogen identification known asKoch’s Postulates.1879 Neisser identifies the causative agentof gonorrhea (Neisseria gonorrhoeae).This may be the first case where a microbeis implicated as the cause of a chronicdisease.1871 Mrs.O’Leary’s cowknocks over a lantern andstarts the Great Chicago Fire.1872 Yellowstone