#34: Vaccines
Some of the most important discoveries we have ever gotten came about simply through good luck. Vaccines are one of the most incredible advances of recent centuries, allowing us to avoid illnesses that used to incapacitate, disfigure, and kill huge portions of the population. And it was sort of luck that the first one was developed!
In the 1700s, a doctor named Edward Jenner happened to be treating people who worked with cattle for smallpox and noticed that their symptoms were much milder than many other people’s. He realized that because they worked with cows, they had been exposed to the related disease cowpox. This led to the realization that a minor, controlled exposure to certain viruses could protect you from getting the full force of the illness in the future. And from there, vaccines were developed!