1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: know that you're going to be hearing two different events 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: in history in this episode. They're both good if I 4 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: do say so myself. On with the show. Hey, I'm Eves, 5 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: and welcome to this Day in History Class, a show 6 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: that uncovers history one day at a time. The day 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: was in March eighteen forty two. Dr Crawford Long used 8 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: ether as a general anesthetic for the first time ever, 9 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: laying the groundwork for a new standard in surgery. Surgery 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: today can be a nerve wracking experience, even with all 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: the medical technology we've developed in the last two centuries, 12 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: but in the mid eighteen hundreds, surgery could still be 13 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: a terribly painful process as patients weren't sedated. Doctors were 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: often using rudimentary means to calm patients before surgery, like alcohol, hypnotism, 15 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: and restraint. Just imagine being fully conscious and having to 16 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: receive an invasive surgery. Patients would ride around and scream 17 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: during operations and often died from blood loss. Many doctors 18 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: did whatever they could to avoid having to resort to surgery, 19 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: but over the course of the late nineteenth century that 20 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:25,199 Speaker 1: would change. While Crawford Williamson Long was a medical student 21 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: at Transylvania College in Kentucky and the University of Pennsylvania 22 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: in Philadelphia. He observed and participated in several surgeries. During 23 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: this time, Long saw people using nitrous oxide or laughing 24 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: gas recreationally, and he went to laughing gas parties and 25 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: eat their frolics where people inhaled nitrous oxide or sulfuric 26 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: ether just for its euphoric effects. Long used ether himself too, 27 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: and he noticed that people who used sulfuric ether could 28 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: fall or run into things but not feel any pain, 29 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: and they would forget what they've done while indebriated after 30 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: the effects of the substances were off. In eighteen thirty nine, 31 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: Long received his medical degree, and in eighteen forty one 32 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: he started a medical practice in Jefferson, Georgia, a small 33 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: rural community. Once he had his own practice, he began 34 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: experimenting with sulphuric ether, and on March thirtieth, eighteen forty two, 35 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: he administered ether to James M. Venable, a patient who 36 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: attended ether parties and had postponed his surgery several times 37 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: due to fear of pain. Long removed two tumors from 38 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: the back of Vinable's neck. He charged the patient two 39 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:44,239 Speaker 1: dollars for the surgery. Long continued to use anesthesia in 40 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: his surgeries after that. He even gave ether analgesia to 41 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,839 Speaker 1: his wife during labor pains. Friends, colleagues, and critics knew 42 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: about his discovery and practice, but Long didn't publish his 43 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: findings until eighteen forty nine. Long had it to gather 44 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: more evidence and be sure of his discovery, but by 45 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: then dentists Horace Wells and William T. G. Morton, as 46 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: well as physician Charles T. Jackson, had already claimed they 47 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: discovered anesthesia. Long said it had taken so long for 48 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: him to publish his results because of his isolated rural 49 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: environment and because he was super busy and he wanted 50 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: recognition for first using ether anesthesia during surgery. Unfortunately, Long 51 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: didn't get much recognition during his life. Regardless, the other 52 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: three doctors did make contributions to the development of anesthesia. 53 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: Wells first used nitrous oxide for pain relief during dental surgery. 54 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: Morton was the first to publicly demonstrate ether anesthesia and 55 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: publicize its efficacy, and Jackson suggested to more in that 56 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: ether be used as an anesthetic. There was lots of 57 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: debate over who really pioneered the use of anesthesia, but 58 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: Long is considered the official discoverer of inhaled anesthesia, and 59 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: away there was now an effective method to sedate patients 60 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: during surgery, so there was no thrashing around and excruciating 61 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,839 Speaker 1: pain during operation. But that did not mean that anesthesia 62 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: was perfect. It made surgery a breeze. The quality of 63 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: either was an issue. It could be so weak that 64 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: a patient wouldn't go under or would regain consciousness during surgery, 65 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: or it could be so strong that a person would 66 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:28,559 Speaker 1: die from overdosing. Also, germs were a problem. Germ theory 67 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: wasn't fully accepted in medicine until the late eighteen hundreds, 68 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 1: and doctors had some pretty dangerous habits at the time, 69 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: like entering surgery wearing bloody frocks, without wearing masks, and 70 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,239 Speaker 1: without washing their hands and tools thoroughly. Since patients weren't 71 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: protected from germs, they were getting infection and dying. On 72 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: top of this, the new process of operating on an 73 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: unconscious patient was just foreign to doctors who were used 74 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: to conversing with the people they were operating on, and 75 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: plenty of medical nationals just weren't convinced about its benefits. 76 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: There were people who protested anesthesia because they believed it 77 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: simply went against the natural order of people feeling pain. 78 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: There were others who thought that either was an evil drug. 79 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: Anesthesia had its champions, but it definitely was not widely 80 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: accepted at first. Once people learned more about how Germ's work, 81 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 1: sterilization became the norm and drugs had federally mandated standards, 82 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 1: anesthesia became an essential part of surgery and medicine. Long 83 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: died in June seventy eight, and a year later the 84 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: National Eclectic Medical Association declared him the discoverer of anesthesia. 85 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: Doctor's Day, a day to recognize physicians contributions to society, 86 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: is now celebrated on March thirty in honor of Crawford 87 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: Long's discovery. I'm Eave Deathcote and hopefully you know a 88 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:00,479 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. And 89 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: if you're so inclined, you can follow us at T 90 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: D i h C Podcasts, on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. 91 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: We'll be back with more history tomorrow. Hey everyone, it's 92 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: Eves and welcome to another episode of This Day and 93 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: History Class, a podcast that brings you a little nugget 94 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: of history every single day. The day was March the 95 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: French National Assembly accepted a proposal by the French Academy 96 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,039 Speaker 1: of Sciences to define the meter. In the centuries leading 97 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: up to this event, many different units of length were 98 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,239 Speaker 1: used throughout Europe. The confusion this cost made it clear 99 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: just how necessary it was to have standard units of measurement. 100 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: The French Academy in British Royal Society worked together to 101 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: figure out what phenomena they could base standards on. They 102 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: turned to the Earth's meridian and the seconds pendulum, or 103 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: a pendulum that takes a second to swing in one 104 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: direction and a second to swing in the other, making 105 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: its period exactly two seconds. Scientists believed that they would 106 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: soon be able to measure the seconds pendulum and the 107 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: meridian accurately enough to base units on them, but that 108 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: was not the case. In fact, in eighteenth century France, 109 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: there were somewhere around two hundred and fifty thousand different 110 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: units of measurement and use. Those included the point, the line, 111 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: the inch, the foot, the fathom, the rod, and too 112 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: many other units to list. National and international markets were expanding. 113 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: The construction and maintenance of machines required precise measurements, and 114 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: scientists were also having difficulty getting good, consistent measurement because 115 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: of the lack of a standard one. Many people in 116 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: France were frustrated with their existing systems of measurement and 117 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: wanted uniform standards, so in August of seventeen eighty nine, 118 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: during the French Revolution, a member of the French Academy 119 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: proposed petitioning the National Assembly to establish a standard for 120 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:25,239 Speaker 1: weights and measures. They chose Charlot Maurice to tal Iran 121 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: Perry Gore as the National Assembly member who would be 122 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: a spokesperson for their cause. Tal Iran presented a proposal 123 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: to the National Assembly in seventeen ninety. The National Assembly 124 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: and King Louis the sixteenth approved his proposal, which called 125 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: for the creation of a standard based on an quote 126 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: invariable model found in nature. The King then sent Talleyran's 127 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: proposal to the Academy for consideration. In March of seventeen 128 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: a committee in the Academy decided that the basic unit 129 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,559 Speaker 1: of length would be one ten mill length of the 130 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: distance between the North pole and equator along the Paris Meridian. 131 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: The Academy decided on the name meter for the basic 132 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,319 Speaker 1: unit of length. The name came from the Greek word metron, 133 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,679 Speaker 1: which meant measure. A decimal system of length measure would 134 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: be based on divisions and multiples of the meter. Capacity 135 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: units would be based on cubing the length measure, and 136 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: weight units would be based on filling capacity units with 137 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 1: distilled water. Tal Iran presented this plan to the National 138 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: Assembly and on marcht the Assembly approved it. But this 139 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: new system required an expedition to measure the meridian arc, 140 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: since the distance of one quadrant of Earth's meridian was 141 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:47,079 Speaker 1: not known the expedition. It took seven years, and even 142 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: then its results were inaccurate. Still. When the expedition ended 143 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: in sevent a platinum meter bar was constructed based on 144 00:09:55,480 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: calculations done from the expedition. It became the official stand 145 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: a meter measurement and was placed in the national archives. 146 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: It wasn't until eighty seven when France abolished non metric units. 147 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: After the metric system was standardized in France, other countries 148 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: began to adopt it. Today, a meter is defined as 149 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 1: the length of the path traveled by light and vacuum 150 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: during a time interval of one two of a second. 151 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little 152 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 153 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: want to reach us on social media, you can hit 154 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: us up on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at t d 155 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: i h C Podcast. You can also send us an 156 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: email at this Day at I heart media dot com. 157 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening to the show and we'll see 158 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: you tomorrow. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 159 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 160 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.