The first smallpox vaccine is tested

14 May 1796 , England

For centuries the world lived in fear of smallpox, the deadly and highly infectious disease that left millions dead and devastated entire civilisations. In 1796, an English doctor named Edward Jenner realised that milkmaids who had contracted cowpox – a similar but milder form of smallpox – were often immune to smallpox. He inoculated an eight-yearold boy, James Phipps, with pus taken from a cowpox blister before inoculating him again six weeks later with smallpox matter, a process he called ‘vaccination’. Jenner continued to expose Phipps to smallpox but the boy showed no signs of the disease, proving that he had successfully developed immunity. Smallpox vaccines eventually became standard practice, with vaccination programmes implemented around the world during the 20th century. Jenner’s research paved the way for vaccines for other diseases such as rubella and yellow fever, and in 1980 the World Health Organisation declared that smallpox had been completely eradicated.