1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. Today's episode contains not just one, 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: but two nuggets of history. These are coming from the 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: T d I H Vault, so you'll also here to hosts. 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: Consider it a double feature. Enjoy the show, Hi, and 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: welcome to this day in History class. It is July one, 6 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: and Ignace semil Weiss was born on this day in Buddha, Hungary, 7 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: which is part of Budapest now. He was known as 8 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: everything from the savior of mothers to the father of 9 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: infection control. So here are the highlights of his life 10 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: and work. First up, he was an obstetrician, but obstetrics 11 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: was a brand new medical field until the late eighteenth 12 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: and early nineteenth centuries. In Europe. Midwives were usually the 13 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,599 Speaker 1: people who delivered babies. It was not common at all 14 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: for a doctor to be involved. The doctors were almost 15 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: universal eate men, and it was so rare for a 16 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: doctor to be involved that when obstetricians arrived on a 17 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: scene and started delivering babies in some places they were 18 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: called man midwives. Some of us was also a teacher. 19 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: He worked at Vienna Algamini Crunkin House or the General Hospital, 20 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: which was like a teaching hospital today. So he was 21 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: teaching medical students, he was helping them with difficult deliveries. 22 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: He was also keeping records, keeping up with all the 23 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: clerical files for the school and the patients, and that 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: put him in a really unique position to realize the 25 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: magnitude of a big problem that was facing the general hospital, 26 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: and that was that there were two clinics, one staffed 27 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: by midwives and mid midwiffery students and the other staffed 28 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: by doctors and medical students. And the midwiffery clinic had 29 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: about a third of the maternal deaths of the doctor's clinic, 30 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: three times more people dying in the doctor's clinic of 31 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,199 Speaker 1: something called childbed fever also called purer pearl fever as 32 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: in the midwives clinic. This was not acceptable and it 33 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: was not acceptable to the patients either. People who showed 34 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: up at the hospital and learned that it was the 35 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: doctor's day to take new patients would literally have babies 36 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: out on the street to avoid going into the hospital 37 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: and risking their lives with the doctors. So Ignot someone 38 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: Vice thought this was completely mortifying and unacceptable, and he 39 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: started trying to figure out what was causing this problem. 40 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: He compared everything that he could think of between the 41 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: doctor's clinic and the midwives clinic. He compared what the 42 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: patients were eating, he compared the religions of the people 43 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: that were working in both clinics. He compared how overcrowded 44 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: they were, and it turned out, unsurprisingly, the midwives clinic 45 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: was the more crowded clinic. People clearly wanted to go 46 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: there much more than they wanted to go to the 47 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: doctor's clinic. He couldn't figure out what the problem was 48 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: until a friend of his nicked his finger during an 49 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: autopsy and then later died of something that seemed a 50 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: whole lot like childbed fever. So that gave Ignot civil 51 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: Bites an idea that maybe it was the hands of 52 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: the medical students that were the problem. They were conducting 53 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: autopsies and then they were delivering babies, and they weren't 54 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: washing their hands in between. Because the germ theory of disease, 55 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: these didn't really exist, neither did surgical gloves. They didn't 56 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: come along until much later, and he came up with 57 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: a revolutionary idea for how to fix this problem, and 58 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: that was to have the medical students wash their hands 59 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: between conducting an autopsy and delivering a baby. So he 60 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: instituted this practice. He had all of the medical students 61 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: wash their hands anytime they had done an autopsy before 62 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: they actually went into the ward and started delivering babies, 63 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: and the rate of maternal death plummeted. Three months or 64 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: so after he started this process. In August of eighteen 65 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: forty seven, which was just a couple of months after 66 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: he put this process into place, there were zero maternal 67 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: deaths from child bed fever in the doctor's clinic, and 68 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: that was the first time that had happened since the 69 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: medical students started conducting autopsies. It was a really big deal. 70 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: But when he started trying to encourage all of his 71 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: colleagues to start this hand washing, they did not respond well. 72 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: They didn't welcome him with open arms, saying thank you 73 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: so much. You have taught us how we can stopped 74 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,119 Speaker 1: literally killing our patients. Instead, they made fun of him. 75 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: They completely dismissed his ideas. His boss said that it 76 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: was not handwashing at all. It was the brand new 77 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: ventilation system which was drawing terrible miasmas out of the hospital. 78 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: That was really why patients had stopped dying. None of 79 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: those people were correct, ignat simil vice was correct. He 80 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: got increasingly upset about the fact that his colleagues were 81 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: not taking his advice and were in fact being unkind 82 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:34,280 Speaker 1: and cruel to him about it. He eventually left Vienna 83 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: in the middle of the night, didn't tell anybody where 84 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: he was going, and he got other jobs elsewhere and 85 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: similarly reduced the maternal death rate at the places where 86 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: he worked by having people wash their hands. So he 87 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: had always been kind of a stubborn person, maybe not 88 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: very easy to get along with, and his behavior started 89 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,799 Speaker 1: to become increasingly erratic. He finally wrote a whole book 90 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: on his experiences and his theories in eighteen sixty one, 91 00:04:58,040 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: and parts of it were great, but parts of it 92 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: were just these rambling diet tribes against the people that 93 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: had criticized him and had been teaching their students to 94 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,359 Speaker 1: ignore his theories. His wife became convinced that there was 95 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: something truly wrong, and so he was institutionalized in eighteen 96 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: sixty five, and he died in that institution on August 97 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: thirteenth of that year, at the age of forty seven. 98 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: His cause of death was probably sept a semia, but 99 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: his former employer back in Vienna did an autopsy and 100 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: found that he had evidence of severe injuries. It seems 101 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: as though he was probably mistreated in that asylum where 102 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: he ultimately died. So when Ignat some of Vice died, 103 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: people like Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister and Robert Coke 104 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: were all doing the work that would become the germ 105 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: theory of disease, and by about the eighteen eighties, the 106 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: exact same infection control procedures that he had put into 107 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: effect decades earlier were common practice in the field of obstetrics. 108 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,359 Speaker 1: Hungarian doctor published a paper about some of Vice in 109 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,600 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty seven. At that point that he was sort 110 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: of bringing him out of obscurity, everybody had forgotten about him, 111 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,919 Speaker 1: and it's only been since that time that people have 112 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: started to realize what a groundbreaker he was. You can 113 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: learn more about Ignace civil Vice and the other doctors 114 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: who were making similar strides at about the same time 115 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: in the March episode of Stuff You Missed in History 116 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: Class called Ignat Sevil Vice and the War on hand Washing. 117 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to this day in History class on 118 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and wherever else you get your podcasts. 119 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: Tomorrow we have a story of a rebellion and a 120 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: trial which has a cameo by John Quincy Adams. Hello, 121 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to this day in History class, where we flipped 122 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: through the book of history and bring you a new 123 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: page every day. The day was July one, nineteen six. 124 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: The new Constitution of Ghana went into effect, transforming the 125 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: country from one with a parliamentary system to one with 126 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: a republican form of government. The Republic of Ghana was 127 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: formally proclaimed and Prime Minister Quama and Kruma was inaugurated 128 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: as president. Before independence, Ghana was known as the Gold Coast, 129 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: a British colony. The British exploited and exported the resources 130 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: in the Gold Coast, including gold, diamonds, ivory, coco, timber, 131 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: and manganese. As this economy developed, it supported the construction 132 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: of harbors, railways, roads, schools, and hospitals. European interference in 133 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: the economics and politics of the region had broken down 134 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: the traditional social order of the groups there, but by 135 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: the end of World War two people had begun protesting 136 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: for more autonomy from the British. Sentiments of nationalism had 137 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: reached a peak, and movements developed in position to colonial 138 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: administration with the goal of independence. A moderate party called 139 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: the United Gold Coast Convention or u g c C 140 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: formed in nineteen forty seven to pursue constitutional reform and 141 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: eventual self government. Quama and Kruma was the general secretary 142 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: of the party, but in nineteen forty nine he split 143 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: with the u g c C and formed the Revolutionary 144 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: Convention People's Party or c p P. Kruma and the 145 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: c p P called for self government now, and it 146 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: gained widespread popular support. In nineteen fifty the c p 147 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: P began a campaign of so called positive action, encouraging 148 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: nonviolent resistance and strikes against colonial authorities. Kruma was soon 149 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: arrested and imprisoned for a sedition, but the c p 150 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: P won a majority of the seats in the first 151 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: elections for the Legislative Assembly, and Kruma was released from 152 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: prison to become the leader of government. This nos in 153 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, and Kroma became the first Prime Minister 154 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: of the Gold Coast. In nineteen fifty six, the British 155 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 1: Togoland Trust Territory integrated with the Gold Coast and on 156 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: March sixth, nineteen fifty seven. After centuries of being a 157 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: center for the export of enslaved people and then being 158 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: subject to European control, the Gold Coast gained its independence 159 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: from Britain and became an independent, self governing member of 160 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: the Commonwealth of Nations. The country was renamed Ghana. It 161 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: was the first black Sub Saharan country in colonial Africa 162 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: to achieve independence. Kroma was a Marxist and Pan Africanists, 163 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: and he viewed the independence of Ghana as an important 164 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: step for the entire continent of Africa. Though his rule 165 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: was increasingly regarded as authoritarian, he improved infrastructure and social 166 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: conditions in Ghana. The working class was thriving, but the 167 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: country was still an end of pendent constitutional monarchy, with 168 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth the Second as its head of state. In 169 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 1: April of nineteen sixty, a plebiscite or constitutional referendum took 170 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: place on the issue of Ghana becoming a republic. About 171 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: eighty eight percent of the voters supported the change. Kroma 172 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: was elected President of the Republic with eight percent of 173 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: the vote. He was inaugurated on July one, nineteen sixty 174 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: when the new Constitution of Ghana went into effect. Ghana 175 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: became a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations, so Kroma 176 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: had support. Initially, people began to resent him and the administration, 177 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: which was suffering under dead and corruption. There were several 178 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: assassination attempts on the President's life. Four years after Ghana 179 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: became a republic and Kroma was elected president, a constitutional 180 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,079 Speaker 1: amendment made Ghana a one party state and Kroma declared 181 00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: himself life president of the country and the party. But 182 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: as Kurma tried to advance his vision of a United 183 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 1: Africa and empowered activists, the economy and living standards in 184 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:12,599 Speaker 1: Ghana suffered in opposition to the regime grew. In February 185 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixty six, while the president was visiting China, 186 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: Kroma's government was overthrown by a coup of the Ghana 187 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: Armed Forces. The National Liberation Council took over the government 188 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: and suspended the constitution, and Crema found refuge in Guinea 189 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: until nineteen one, when Jerry Rawlings came to power. Ghana's 190 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: government saw many coups and alternating military and civilian regimes. 191 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: I'm Eves Jeff Cote, and hopefully you know a little 192 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 193 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: have any burning questions or comments to tell us. You 194 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: can find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at t 195 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:59,440 Speaker 1: D I h C podcast. You can subscribe to this 196 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: dand history class on Apple podcasts, the I heart Radio app, 197 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you tomorrow. 198 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 199 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 200 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: favorite shows.