#histmed is an active hashtag on Bluesky. In the last 30 days, 50 people shared 186 posts with it — around 6 a day. Activity is up 18% versus the previous week, peaking on Jul 16 with 11 posts.

Posts with #histmed

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

Hello, #Bluesky! The severe pitting in this skull is the direct result of tertiary syphilis, which was fatal before the discovery of penicillin. In the final stage, the disease attacks a person's skeletal structure. This 19th-century skull is from the Medical Museion in Copenhagen. #histmed

A skull showing severe pitting in the front. There is also a tag on the skull.

72 165 1662

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

Hello, #bluesky! Here's your daily dose of #histmed trivia👇 Napoleon's Toothbrush, c.1790. Napoleon brushed his teeth regularly using opium-based toothpaste. His toothbrush has a silver gilt handle and bristles made of horsehair, which would have been very rough on the gums. #skystorians

An ornate silver toothbrush with horsehair bristles set against purple silk. At the bottom of the handle is an "N" for Napoleon.

78 144 1601

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

Here's a graveyard gun used to prevent bodysnatchers from stealing corpses, c.1820. Set at the foot of a grave, the gun had three tripwires around it. One such gun accidentally killed a grieving father. This is the kind of useless knowledge you can expect from following me. 😂 #histmed

A bulky gun anchored to a piece of wood by a chain.

45 160 1090

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

Here's your #DailyDose of medical history! COFFIN COLLARS were used to thwart bodysnatchers in the early 19th century. The collar was fixed around the neck of a corpse and bolted to the bottom of a coffin. Bodysnatchers sold bodies to anatomists and medical schools. #skystorians #histmed

A metal collar that is shaped like a horseshoe and anchored to a piece of wood.

34 103 892

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

During #WW1, Marie Curie created a vehicle that contained a hospital bed, generator, X-ray machine & photographic darkroom equipment. These “petite Curies" (below) could be driven right up to the Front. Curie trained 150 women as radiology technicians. #histmed #skystorians #histsci

An old automobile from World War I with an open top. The side has a Red Cross on it and underneath it reads: "Radiologie."

14 185 876

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

It was only after Jonas Salk developed the first safe & effective polio vaccine that the need for iron lungs declined. When asked who owned the vaccine patent, Salk famously answered, “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?” 7/7 #history #skystorians #histmed

A black and white photo of Jonas Salk holding a vial of his polio vaccine and a needle.

15 152 799

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

A VICTORIAN MERMAN Objects like this were often made from the torsos of monkeys and the tails of fish. They were displayed by showmen like P. T Barnum to audiences who believed they were real. This particular one is on display at the Horniman Museum, London. #skystorians #histmed #histsci

A strange looking creature with a fish tail and animal-like arms with claws. The head looks a bit human, with no hair and sharp teeth.

33 98 777

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

Oldest-surviving anatomical theatre, located in Padua and built in 1594. Over the entrance is the Latin inscription: “hic est locus ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitam.” Roughly: “this is the place where death delights to help life (or the living).” Photo: Rolando Paolo Guerzoni. #histmed #skystorians

A photo showing the operating theatre with wooden handrails encircling each riser. In the middle is a wooden table where the dissections would take place.

11 117 747

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

In today's episode of "Your Victorian Pharmacist is Trying to Kill You"👇 Heroin was first synthesized in 1874. Bayer commercialized the drug & began mass producing it in 1898. The drug was promoted as a cough suppressant as well as a better and safer substitute for morphine and codeine. #histmed

An advertisement for Heroin picturing an old bottle with a Bayer label.

31 135 700

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

Upon graduating medical school in 1881, Arthur Conan Doyle did a little doodle of himself waving his diploma over his head. The caption reads: "Licensed to Kill." My next book, SLEUTH-HOUND, is about Conan Doyle's professor, Joseph Bell - the real-life Sherlock Holmes. #skystorians #histmed

Conan Doyle's self-portrait, depicting himself holding his diploma aloft, inscribed below "Licensed to kill."

30 108 660

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

Henry Gray of Gray's Anatomy in a dissection room, c.1845. Gray contracted smallpox after caring for his nephew, who eventually recovered. On 13 June 1861, the day he was to appear for an interview as a final candidate for a prestigious hospital post, he died, aged 34. #histmed #skystorians

A black and white photo of men in a 19th-century dissection room. At the front is a figure dressed in black with wavy black hair. He is circled to indicate that he is Henry Gray.

21 78 618

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris

@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social

over 1 year ago

The face of "Resusci Annie" is based off a death mask of a woman who drowned in Paris in the 1880s. The pathologist on duty became entranced by the girl with the enigmatic half-smile, and commissioned a plaster cast made of her face. In 1955, a toymaker created the CPR doll using that mask. #histmed