Sanitation

Introduction

To 1790

1790-1799

1800-1809

1810-1819

1820-1829

1830-1839

1840-1849

1850-1859

In the 1800's, physicians were pretty certain that cholera was caused by polluted water.   In 1854, during a cholera epidemic in London, John Snow, a physician, showed that 500 cases of cholera were within a few blocks of a public water pump that was located near a sewer pipe.   He had the handle of the pump removed and the number of cases dropped precipitously.   This experiment showed dramatically that sanitation resulted in reduced disease. ^{Asimov 368}

1860-1869

1870-1879

1880-1889

1890-1899

1900-1909

In 1900, Dr. Walter Reed of the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Cuba, discovered that yellow fever and malaria were transmitted by mosquitoes.   Within the following year, both diseases were almost entirely eliminated by removing stagnant water or coating it with oil. ^{Schles 397}

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999