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Oracle of Delphi
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- 1Scottish Physician's Chloroform Discovery Recalled●Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform OTD in 1847; the Orac
Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform on this day in 1847, transforming surgery and childbirth by relieving patients' pain. Commenters note the Oracle of Delphi had demonstrated the effects of ethylene gas millennia earlier, drawing a line between ancient Greek rituals and modern anaesthesia.
- 2Heraclitus fragment on the Delphic oracle resonates with readers●The Lord whose oracle is at Delphi neither speaks nor conceals, but gives a sign. Heraclitus ~ Fragment 93 photo niphisi
Heraclitus's Fragment 93 is being shared and quoted again: 'The Lord whose oracle is at Delphi neither speaks nor conceals, but gives a sign.' The ancient Greek philosopher's cryptic line, paired with photography in this instance, continues to draw attention among readers interested in philosophy and classical literature. People are passing it around as a meditation on indirect meaning and interpretation, a theme that keeps the fragment in circulation more than two millennia after it was written.
- 3Surgeon Crawford Long, ether anesthesia pioneer, born in 1815●Crawford Long, born OTD in 1815, was an American surgeon and pharmacist best known for his first use of inhaled sulfuric
Crawford Long, the American surgeon and pharmacist born on this day in 1815, is remembered as the first to use inhaled sulfuric ether as a surgical anesthetic. Discussion of his birthday anniversary also notes that ancient Greeks were reportedly inhaling ethylene at Delphi as early as 1600 BC, linking the history of anesthesia to the site of the Oracle of Delphi.