The term ‘dark ages’ was coined by a 14th century Italian scholar called Petrarch, and has since been informally used to refer to the period between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe. While historians rarely use the term anymore, many people still hold the notion that it was a period of relative ‘darkness’ in the history of Europe, Middle East, and Asia, when the knowledge and culture gained during the Greek and Romans eras was destroyed and replaced by anarchy and war, until the ‘light’ of the Renaissance.

Of course, as historians are gradually finding out, the period was anything but dark. The so-called Dark Ages was a time of dynamic change across the world, marked by pivotal inventions in mathematics, navigation, manufacturing, architecture, and countless other fields. Some of the most crucial inventions in history directly come from early innovations during this period, from printing to clocks to modern finance.

10. Astrolabe

The idea of the medieval mariner’s astrolabe could be traced back as far as Ancient Greece, though it was only from the sixth century AD that it could be mass-produced for common use. Simply put, an astrolabe is a device used to measure the positions of celestial bodies, initially developed for navigation and later adapted for various astronomical purposes. It was widely used in the Middle Ages across the Arab world, Byzantine Empire, India, and Europe, and then in Islamic Spain around the 10th century. 

The astrolabe would prove to be a groundbreaking invention in the Age of Exploration, when mariners at sea relied on an adapted version called the mariner’s astrolabe for navigation. For the first time in history, they had a device that allowed them to calculate their latitude by measuring celestial bodies like the Pole Star or the Sun. Portuguese seamen used the astrolabe to determine their return trips from West Africa, followed by the famous journeys made by Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus to India and the Americas, respectively. 

9. Eyeglasses

Salvino degli Armati is often credited with the invention of the first eyeglass between 1285 and 1299. While magnifying lenses and other similar innovations had already been made in the Arab world and other places much earlier, Armati’s invention – combined with the rise of the Italian glassblowing industry – allowed it to be produced at a mass scale for the first time in history. 

His eyeglass consisted of two simple convex lenses joined together with a central joint, with a frame made of materials like bone, wood, wire, or leather. Unlike earlier similar prototypes like reading stones, these eyeglasses could be comfortably placed on the nose.

It wasn’t just a revolutionary invention for reading, but also many other inventions further down the road, like the early microscope developed by Zacharias Janssen and his son Hans in the late 16th century. Galileo Galilei further perfected the combination of a concave and convex lens in the compound microscope in 1625.

8. Woodblock Printing

Woodblock printing was invented during the Tang and Song eras in China. It was the beginning of mass dissemination of knowledge and literacy, believed to have emerged around 600 AD from ancient practices of stone seals and inked rubbings. The process would be perfected by the end of the Tang dynasty, involving engraved characters on wooden blocks, inking the blocks, and then transferring the text to paper.

Woodblock printing was soon being used across China for various purposes, including printing books on agriculture, medicine, calendars, and calligraphy. The year 762 was a major milestone in the field of printing, when the first commercially-printed books were sold in Chang’an. 

Despite its importance at the time, however, woodblock printing was time-consuming and laborious. It would take many more years for it to be faster and accessible enough for mass production, which came with the invention of moveable-type printing in the Song era. 

7. Mechanical Clocks

Invented around the 13th century, mechanical clocks marked a significant advancement in timekeeping technology, evolving from ancient water clocks that had been in use for millennia. The key innovation that distinguished mechanical clocks from earlier designs was the escapement mechanism, allowing a steady rhythm of movement with gears to move in a series of equal jumps. 

The true significance of this innovation wasn’t immediately clear to early clockmakers, as it was just an incremental improvement over water clocks at that point. As we know now, it was the beginning of a new age of precision timekeeping, allowing innovations in other fields like navigation. The earliest mechanical clocks quickly spread across the region spanning northern Italy to southern Germany by the late 1200s, eventually completely replacing water clocks as the preferred timekeeping device of the age. Mechanical clocks would play an instrumental role during the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution eras. 

6. Tidal Mills

Tidal mills were an important medieval invention dating back to the seventh century. Primarily used to grind grain with the power of the tides, they were soon extensively used across modern-day England and Ireland. They were strategically placed in low-lying coastal areas or river estuaries for maximum effect, functioning like traditional watermills that relied on tides instead of the wind. 

At their most basic, tidal mills were constructed with a dam equipped with a passageway to control the flow of water, allowing it to enter during high tide and storing it for later use with a water wheel during low tide. The earliest excavated tidal mill was constructed around 619 AD, discovered at the Nendrum Monastery in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. The concept had gained widespread adoption by the 18th century, when most of the world’s tide mills were concentrated in and around London. 

5. Musical Notations

While musical notations existed in some form as early as the late 10th century, Guido of Arezzo is usually credited as the first musician to come up with staff notations. It’s still the foundational notation system for western music, largely invented by Guido as a tool to notate sacred music during the Middle Ages, as it was a time when sacred melodies were still orally passed on due to the lack of a proper system to record them in manuscript form.

Guido’s system introduced four lines or staff and letters, which wouldn’t make sense to most people but would be an instrumental tool for musicians for centuries to come. His system revolutionized music education and vastly reduced the time required to train singers and instrumentalists. Guido also introduced solmization – a technique that assigned syllables to specific intervals and gave way to the ‘do-re-mi’ system still used in Latin music. 

4. Medieval Castles

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of the medieval castle, as empires and kingdoms have been building fortified perimeters around their settlements for thousands of years. It’s much easier to trace the medieval European castle that we all recognize, however, which really began to take shape during the ninth century. This transformation was particularly rapid in Western Europe, especially in France, and the castles during this period were usually made with a high mound encircled by a ditch along its circumference. 

While they worked well in the beginning, these early timber fortifications were soon found to be vulnerable to fire weapons and general rot over time. The first stone castles were built by King William after the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Stone castles of all kinds would soon crop up across medieval Europe, as builders and monarchs experimented with new designs and techniques to make them more secure. 

3. Algebra

Algebra is a major branch of mathematics that deals with symbols, variables, and equations. Its origins can be traced back to the works of the Persian mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, during the ninth century. The word ‘algebra’ itself is derived from one of his works, Hisab al-jabr w’al-muqabala, which was arguably the first treatise ever to describe the modern concepts of the field. It was later translated into English as The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, bringing the science to Europe and other places during the Renaissance period.

Muhammad al-Khwarizmi provided systematic solutions for linear and quadratic equations, with real-life applications in fields like calculating inheritance and trade. He worked in the famous House of Wisdom in Baghdad – perhaps the largest library and hub of knowledge in the world at that time.

2. Paper Money

Paper money revolutionized the concept of currency and paved the way for modern finance. While it originated in the Song era in China some time around the 11th century, the idea had already taken root during the Tang Dynasty, when promissory bonds or bills issued by trustworthy agents were already in use on the Silk Road. These were not true paper notes, however, as they still required private individuals to authenticate their value. 

During the Song Dynasty, the state established licensed deposit shops where individuals could deposit coins and receive government-issued notes. The state took direct control of the system in the 12th century, introducing the world’s first government-produced paper currency called jiaozi. These notes were printed with woodblocks, using six colors of ink and varying paper fiber mixes to discourage counterfeiting. 

The Song Dynasty introduced a national currency backed by precious metals in 1265, which could be used across the empire in denominations from one to one hundred strings of coins. While the innovation was short-lived, thanks to the Mongol invasion of 1279, it laid the basis for the extensive system of paper money deployed in the latter Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.

1. Gunpowder

Gunpowder could be called one of the most influential technological innovations in history. It was initially developed by alchemists in Tang-era China in their quest for a true elixir of life. According to legends, one unknown alchemist accidentally came up with the perfect composition for gunpowder some time around 850 AD, using 75 parts saltpeter, 15 parts charcoal, and 10 parts sulfur. It would soon be put to military use, especially against China’s more-formidable enemies like the Mongols. 

The Song Dynasty employed gunpowder in a wide variety of weapons, including ‘flying fire’ type arrows and hand grenades, and even early landmines and flamethrowers. The concept spread further through Mongol conquests, eventually reaching the Middle East and Europe by the 13th century. In the 14th century, Europeans stumbled upon something now known as ‘corned powder’ – an enhanced explosive paste that vastly improved upon the durability and safety of earlier mixtures

Where would we be without underwear? Well, probably in the same place we are now, but a lot less comfortable, that’s for sure. Since the dawn of time, humans have understood the value and usefulness of undergarments, and today we are going to take a “brief” look at ten key moments in the lingering history of lingerie as we explore the uncensored story of unmentionables.

10. The Loincloth

We begin at the beginning, as Lewis Carroll advised us, and start with the oldest, most basic form of underwear – the loincloth. It is a simple garment made out of one piece of fabric that covers the naughty bits in the front, sometimes in the back, and it is wrapped around itself or maybe held up with a belt if you’re feeling fancy.

The loincloth has been around for almost 7,000 years and remained humanity’s go-to choice of undergarments for millennia due to its practicality and simplicity. Sometimes it could get more sophisticated. Ancient Egyptian pharaohs, for example, had their own intricate and valuable version of the loincloth called a shendoh but, for the most part, people preferred to just wrap a piece of cloth or leather around their waist and get on with their day.

The oldest person that we know of who wore a loincloth is Otzi the Iceman, who was dressed in full kit when he died and it survived along with him, more or less. He had a loincloth made out of narrow strips of sheep hide stitched together which was fastened with a belt.  

9. The Codpiece

The men of the Middle Ages moved away from loincloths and began wearing loose-fitting trousers known as braies. These were comfortable, cheap, and practical, but they were a bit of a palaver to put on since they were laced tight around the waist and shins. This made going to the bathroom a time-consuming affair, so enter the codpiece – a triangular flap that was attached to the pants and covered the fly, held in place by buttons or ties. Then, if anyone needed to heed the call of nature, they just had to undo the codpiece and leave the braies in their place.

Initially, codpieces were simply functional, but they became more intricate as time went on. The most famous codpiece-wearer in history is King Henry VIII, who proudly showed off his giant, fancy codpiece in his portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger. And, of course, back then whatever the king did, everyone else emulated, so enlarged, flashy codpieces became the new style in Europe.

The question still remains, though, why did Henry wear an expanded codpiece? Was it, as many think, simply an aggressive display of phallic virility, or was it to conceal the bandages and ointments used to treat his syphilis?

8. The Chemise

At the same time as the codpiece, the chemise was also in style. Worn by both men and women, the chemise was a simple garment, usually made out of white linen, worn under other clothing such as gowns, robes, and doublets to protect the fancier, more expensive clothes from sweat. 

For most of its existence, the chemise was used as an undergarment, but then along came Marie Antoinette, who thought that, with a bit of added frills and laces, it could also work as a regular dress. She even posed for a portrait by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun in 1783 wearing only a chemise. 

Marie Antoinette had long been criticized that she spent an exorbitant amount of money on clothes at a time when her people were starving. Perhaps she hoped that this portrait would make her look more like a woman of the people, but her idea backfired spectacularly. She was scorned for showing herself in public “wearing a chambermaid’s dust cloth,” and her critics accused her of mocking the dignity of the French throne. Not to mention that she was unlabeled unpatriotic for wearing English cotton, whereas the queen was expected to dress in French silks.

Despite the scandal, Marie Antoinette was a trendsetter, and in the decades that followed, many other women adopted this simple, yet provocative fashion style. The dress became known as “chemise à la reine,” or the “chemise of the queen.”

7. The Corset

And now we move on to the bane of women everywhere for hundreds of years – the corset. This infamous support garment was tightened in order to achieve the desirable hourglass figure – a teeny-tiny waist, with ample bosom and derriere. 

The problem was that, oftentimes, the corset was pulled so tight that it was more an instrument of torture than a fashion accessory. Women who had to wear constricting corsets for hours on end felt discomfort, labored breathing, and even fainted on occasion. Meanwhile, doctors accused corsets of causing everything from respiratory diseases and deformity to the ribs to damage to internal organs, birth defects, and even miscarriages.

As to who is responsible for unleashing this painful undergarment on the world, that’s still up for debate, but it seems like the Greeks are to blame. The oldest depictions of corsets come from the Minoan civilization from over 3,000 years ago. Meanwhile, the oldest actual corset was made out of wool and linen and recovered from a tomb on the island of Crete. But the garment fell out of fashion for millennia, and it wasn’t until the 16th century that France re-popularized it, and from there it spread to the rest of Europe.

6. The Gin & Jenny

No other type of undergarment has become more ubiquitous in modern society than the basic pair of cotton underwear. However, this would not have been possible two hundred years ago. Cotton underwear was too time-consuming and expensive to produce in order to become the chosen unmentionables of the masses. But that changed with the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the invention of two machines that allowed cotton to be manufactured on a grand scale – the cotton gin and the spinning jenny.

All of a sudden, cotton clothing did not have to be made by hand, anymore. Although cotton was not a fiber native to Europe, it soon overtook in popularity other fabrics such as silk and wool. Meanwhile, in America, cotton became the backbone of the country’s economy, becoming its main export during the first half of the 19th century. Of course, the reason why this fiber was so profitable for America was because it was grown and collected using slave labor.

5. The Bloomers

We’ve already mentioned the corset, but there came a day during the mid-19th century when women said “Enough is enough” and decided that it was time to wear something practical and comfortable and damn everybody who had a problem with it. And that’s where the bloomers came in.

Inspired by Turkish trousers, bloomers were long, baggy pantaloons that were worn under dresses. They were named after women’s rights activist Amelia Bloomer who heavily campaigned in their favor, although she would have preferred to be remembered for other achievements such as launching The Lily, the first newspaper in America owned and edited by women. 

Many were shocked by this new fashion development which was such a 180 from the previous styles, but it caught on regardless. As the decades passed, bloomers started getting shorter until they evolved into a form of baggy, comfortable underwear for women.

4. The Union Suit

Around the same time as bloomers came to be, women also tried out a new type of underwear which was far more comfortable and relaxing than anything else they had in their day. They even called this new type of underwear Emancipation Suits, although they would later become better known as Union Suits. If you’re still not sure what we’re talking about, they are the one-piece long underwear with the butt-flaps.

Initially, they were intended for women, but everyone thought they were such a good idea that they soon became unisex, worn by men, women, and children. Soon enough, though, they became strongly associated only with working-class men. However, they were a bit tricky to get into, so the long johns came along and supplanted them. Long johns served the same basic purposes, but they were two pieces, making it easier to get dressed in them. However, they did have a downside – no more butt-flaps.

3. The Jockstrap

Nowadays, the jockstrap can be an athlete’s best friend, but it wasn’t always designed for them. In fact, the jockstrap was invented in 1874, by a sporting goods company in Chicago and was initially known as the “jockey strap.” That’s because it was intended for bicycle jockeys who had to pedal for hours on end on hard cobblestone streets every day and needed something extra to protect their privates.

Other workmen soon saw the usefulness of the jockstrap, especially when a hard cup was added to it, and it became yet another form of underwear popular with the working class. Even doctors found it quite helpful for medical purposes and began recommending the jockstrap to men recovering from surgeries or injuries such as hernias. And yes, in case you were wondering, there is a female version, and it is known as a jillstrap.

2. The Bra

One evening in 1914, New York socialite Caresse Crosby was getting ready to go to a débutante ball. As was standard at the time, she first put on a whalebone corset before donning her gown. It was stiff and constricting, but hey, what can you do? By that point, Crosby had gotten used to the tightness of corsets, but she didn’t like that it was poking out from under her dress. Struck by a bolt of inspiration, she took off her corset and asked her maid to bring her two handkerchiefs, a pink ribbon, and a sewing kit. And with some MacGyver ingenuity, the modern bra was born.

Crosby was the talk of the town at that party. Most of the other women were shocked that she could move so freely while they all lumbered around stiffly. When other people asked to buy a bra for themselves, Crosby realized that she was onto something, so she patented the “backless brassiere” and started a business. Then World War I came along and made the bra even more popular. Women started taking up industrial and construction jobs, which you couldn’t really do in a corset. Plus, in 1917, the US War Industries Board straight up asked women to stop buying corsets so they could ration the metal for the war effort.

Contrary to a popular myth, the bra was not invented by a man and his name was certainly not Otto Titzling. That whole thing was made up by New Zealand humorist Wallace Reyburn in 1971, the same guy who made everyone think that Thomas Crapper invented the flush toilet. For whatever reason, people kept believing his satire and then perpetuated it as fact.

1. Going Commando

We’ve been talking about all the different undergarments that people have worn throughout history, but what if you do not want to wear anything under your outer clothes and you prefer to go commando?

Surely, it would be impossible to know who was the first person in history who decided to go free and easy and ditch the skivvies, but what about the actual saying? Why would not wearing any underwear be called “going commando” and did any commandos actually do this?

Yes to that second part, but the origins of the expression are a bit murkier. The most popular hypothesis claims that it became a slang term during the 1970s thanks to American soldiers returning from Vietnam. During the war, special forces spent a lot of time in hot, wet jungles, and wearing tight underwear left them vulnerable to the dreaded fungal infection known as “crotch rot” (don’t google that, by the way). So off came the underpants to improve ventilation. 

Another origin story is even more unpleasant, believe it or not, and it says that commandos ditched their underwear when they had diarrhea and cut the seam of their fatigues running down their backside so they could “go” on the go.

Nobody can say with certainty if either of these is true, but most seem to agree that the expression permanently entered the public consciousness thanks to an episode of Friends from 1996.

Modern-day Iran sits on the ruins of some of the earliest and most-advanced civilizations in history, even if most of them remain largely forgotten. These kingdoms were responsible for many innovations we take for granted today – from the post office to windmills to the humble ice cream. 

10. Refrigeration

Yakhchal was an ancient Persian refrigeration technology developed around 400 BC. It’s easily one of the earliest methods of refrigeration we know of, and it resembles modern refrigerators to a large extent, at least in its uses. Yakhchals were made with a large mud-brick dome above ground and were designed to store ice in the scorching desert climate of ancient Persia, often reaching heights of up to 60 feet. 

Below the ground, spacious underground chambers were used for storing ice, food, and everything else that needed to be refrigerated. The key material used was a special mortar called s?rooj, made of sand, clay, egg whites, lime, goat hair, and ash, which provided effective insulation.

The cooling mechanism of these ancient refrigerators was based on evaporation, which cooled the air with evaporating water. During winters, ice was brought from nearby mountains and stored in these ice-pits, ensuring a constant supply throughout the year. 

9. Windmills

Nashtifan – a village in northeastern Iran – is home to well-preserved examples of windmills that first cropped up across ancient Persia, also known as asbads. These towering structures, standing at about 65 feet tall and around 1,000 years old, were among the earliest windmills in history. They were made with clay, straw, and wood, and were primarily used to pump water and grind grain into flour. 

Interestingly, this design vastly differs from the familiar European horizontal axis windmills, as they’re powered by drag rather than lift, with their wooden blades placed on a vertical axis. Currently, these ancient structures are under the protection of one Ali Muhammed Etebari – a local volunteer from a nearby village. 

8. Chess

It’s difficult to say whether chess originated in Iran or India, though undoubtedly, ancient Persia still had a huge role to play in its popularity today. Some historical accounts mention the game as a classic contest between the Indians and Persians, mostly to show off their intelligence to the other.

Persian influence on the game can be seen in its terminology, and vice versa. Over the years, many words from chess, like ‘rukh’ – meaning rook – and ‘shah mat’ – or checkmate – have entered the Persian lexicon. 

Some of the earliest surviving chess pieces have been discovered in northeastern Iran, and the same can’t be said for any other country. In a famous dig made near the city of Afrasiyab, archeologists found ivory chess pieces resembling Persian rukhs. 

7. Battery

The ancient Baghdad or Parthian batteries were discovered near Baghdad during the construction of a new railway in 1936. They date back to the Parthian empire around 2,000 years ago – a powerful empire existing between 247 BC and 224 AD in what is now Iran. 

These old batteries were made with clay jars and stoppers made of asphalt, with an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with an electrolytic solution – like vinegar – the jars could produce a voltage of around 1.1 volts, though their exact purpose is still unknown. 

While not all scientists agree on their specific function, one theory says that they were used for electroplating – an industrial process where one layer of a metal is applied to the surface of another metal, like silver or gold. 

6. Miniatures

The art of Persian miniature painting emerged and flourished during the Mongol and Timurid periods from the 13th to 16th centuries, reaching its zenith around the 15th century. Additionally, Mongolian rulers that came to Iran brought Chinese influence and artisans with them, further adding to the unique Persian artistic tradition. 

Miniatures were primarily used as illustrations, as they could make stories and plots feel more immersive. There was also a meddling of art and poetry during this time, as miniatures were the perfect medium for narrating the best poetic works from ancient Persia. Notable works in the field include miniatures derived from works like Ferdowsi and Nezami’s epic poems, Shahnameh and Khamsa, respectively. The development of Persian miniatures also gave rise to distinct schools with their own style and regional influences across Iran, like Shiraz, Tabriz, and Herat.

5. Ice Cream

To the best of our knowledge, ice cream is a popular dessert everywhere. We’re still not sure exactly who invented it first –  as the journey goes through many empires and cultures – we know that the first form of the modern ice cream showed up in Persia some time around 500 BC. 

The Persians developed something called bastani, which combined grape juice, fruit juice, and other sweet flavors to make something that resembles the ice cream we know. This early version was like a sorbet in appearance and taste, and used to be so expensive that it was considered a luxury. The invention of the above-mentioned Yakhchals ensured that the dessert stayed cold for long periods of time, allowing for experimentation and more varied types of ancient-Iranian ice creams. 

4. Qanat

The qanat system was an ancient method of water harvesting that originated in Persia, some time around 2,500 or 3,000 years ago. The technique was so successful that old qanats could still be found in regions ruled by ancient Iranians, primarily in Iran and Afghanistan. In Iran alone, there are estimated to be around 50,000 qanats spread across its arid regions. Sadly, many of them have fallen into disrepair or dried up due to factors like silt sedimentation, urban migration, and decline in expert knowledge to manage them.

Qanats are mainly used in irrigation. The most common design involves a network of underground canals that harness water from mountainous aquifers, which is then transported downhill through sloping tunnels to fields and other areas that need irrigation. The technology is known by different names in various regions, including falaj, khettara, foggara, and karez. 

3. Academic Medicine

The concept of hospitals that are also medical schools is common around the world today, though most people forget its true origins. The ancient city of Gondishapur in Persia played a crucial role in the development of academic medicine, as it invited medical scholars from around the world – from Greeks to Indians to Syriacs – to come and practice their craft in the city. This congregation of ancient knowledge from different civilizations led to the birth of teaching hospitals, medical schools, and academic medicine. 

Under the Sasanian empire between 226 to 652 AD, Gondishapur became known as the ‘city of Hippocrates’. The city’s academy offered training in various disciplines other than medicine, like philosophy, theology, and science. Scholars from different civilizations studied there, as they translated and practiced texts from ancient Indian, Syriac, and Greco-Roman sources. This was where medical education moved to a system where medical students worked and learned under the supervision of other, more-experienced experts.

2. Mail

The British Empire is often credited as the first civilization to have a functioning postal service, though in reality, it’s not even close. Between 550 and 330 AD, the Achaemenid Persian empire established an extensive postal network that spanned their vast empire, stretching from Greece in the west to India in the east. The centerpiece of this system was the renowned Royal Road – a 1,500-mile highway connecting Sardis in Asia Minor to the Persian capital at Susa. 

This road allowed the Persians to establish one of the world’s first postal systems we know of, with efficient mail delivery carried out by expert horsemen. The Royal Road was an engineering marvel in itself, being the first and longest road of its kind in history, even surpassing many modern interstate highways in length. 

Messages were relayed from one courier to another regardless of weather conditions. This network played a crucial role in gathering intelligence throughout the empire, and was largely used for administrative purposes, like issuing decrees and maintaining adminstrative control over the vast Persian territories.

1. Human Rights

Written in 539 BC, the Cyrus Cylinder was a treatise of peace named after one of the great emperors of Persia – Cyrus the Great. It contained what many historians agree was the first declaration of human rights by an organized state in history. 

The cylinder, discovered in Babylon in modern-day Iraq in 1879, details King Cyrus’s conquest of Babylon and the subsequent advancements in civilization and science across his empire. It declared freedom for the slaves and immunity from persecution for the entire Jewish population, along with a charter on equal treatment of all races living within the cities. These principles inspired subsequent declarations of individual rights in history, including the Magna Carta, the US Constitution, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

If we really think about it, modern medicine has reached a stage where it can’t be distinguished from magic. It’s now entirely possible to take an organ from one person and stick it on to someone else, remotely perform surgery sitting in a totally different part of the world, artificially grow cells inside a laboratory as easily as cooking, and much more.

While it’s all quite awesome and cool, admittedly, it’s important to remember that these futuristic, almost-god-like medical procedures have been a long time in the making. The history of medicine is full of breakthrough moments that have all come together to shape the field as we know it today, thanks to the efforts of countless researchers and medical experts that didn’t give up.

10. Aspirin

Salicylic acid, a natural substance found in plants like willow and meadowsweet, has been used in medicinal purposes since ancient times. Reverend Edward Stone, an English clergyman, conducted the first scientific study on the benefits of willow’s bark in 1763. In 1859, Hermann Kolbe identified the chemical structure of the chemical, though the unpleasant taste and side effects like irritation in the stomach limited its use. 

It was a German chemist, Felix Hoffmann, working at the Friedrich Bayer and Co that first synthesized aspirin in 1897. Not just aspirin, it was the first synthetic drug ever made, giving birth to the pharmaceutical industry as we know it. 

Aspirin isn’t just a pain-reliever, it has vast uses in other fields, too, especially heart disease. It remains the most widely used drug in cases of cardiovascular disease, and many studies have proven its effectiveness in the prevention of cardiovascular events, and even colorectal cancer. 

9. Magnetic Resonance Imaging

MRI – or Magnetic Resonance Imaging – is one of the most commonly-used imaging techniques for medical procedures today. Its development could be credited to multiple physicists, doctors and other experts working throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, like Sir Peter Mansfield, Edward Purcell, Raymond Damadian, and Felix Bloch, among others.

It began with the study of magnetic resonance, as researchers examined how electrons and atomic nuclei respond to magnetism. In the 1930s, I.I. Rabi developed a method to study magnetic properties and sodium movement, laying the foundation for nuclear magnetic resonance – or NMR – imaging. In the 1940s, Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell came up with their own technique to use water content in the body to generate magnetic resonance images.

In 1969, Raymond Damadian proposed the use of magnetic resonance to differentiate cancer cells from healthy tissue. By 1974, he had successfully designed the first full-body MRI machine, changing the world of medical imaging forever. 

8. DNA’s Double-Helix Structure

The 1953 discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick transformed the worlds of biology and medicine. Before, scientists and medical professionals lacked a detailed understanding of how genetic information was stored and transmitted inside the cells. Their work led to a better understanding of how genes control chemical processes within our cells, paving the way for advancements in genetic research and other fields that continue to this day.

Since the discovery, biology has evolved into a global industry, with DNA being its primary product. Today, fields like genetic fingerprinting, modern forensics, mapping of the human genome, gene therapy, and many others depend on the knowledge of the base structure of the human DNA. 

7. Organ Transplants

Organ transplantation has gone through many important steps in its history. Breakthroughs in tissue typing and drugs against organ rejection – notably Jean Borel’s discovery of Cyclosporine in the mid-1970s – have greatly improved the success rate and longevity of organ transplants. According to an estimate, modern advances in the effectiveness of kidney transplant medicine save the lives of about 74 patients every day.

Today, organs like kidneys, liver, heart, and even arms, can be successfully transplanted, though it has applications in other fields too, like its many potential uses in immunology. While the demand for organs continues to exceed supply worldwide – as about 17 people die waiting for new organs every day – the higher number of organ donors compared to the past have resulted in more transplant patients living healthier lives every year.

6. Cardiac Surgery

In the early twentieth century, the idea of safely operating on the human heart seemed impossible. The breakthrough came in May 1953, when John Gibbon successfully performed the first open-heart surgery using his own design for a heart-lung machine. It was developed with the help of his wife and research partner, Mary Hopkinson, and consisted of components like a blood reservoir, an oxygenator, a temperature regulation system, and a pump.

The creation of the heart-lung machine ultimately allowed the repair of previously fatal congenital and acquired heart diseases. All modern surgical procedures related to the heart – like bypass grafting, valvular replacement, congenital defect correction, and heart transplantation – have been possible because of that invention. It also gave rise to an entirely new type of health professional called cardiovascular perfusionist. 

5. Vaccines

The concept of immunization dates back hundreds, or even thousands, of years. Perhaps the most important breakthrough in the field, however, came when Edward Jenner, a country physician, tested a new method using material from cowpox blisters and inoculated it into a person’s skin in 1796, which proved effective against smallpox. 

This marked a turning point in the history of vaccination, and by the late 1940s, scientific advancements allowed other, more advanced vaccines to show up on the market. Vaccines have since had a profound impact on public health, saving millions of lives and providing a potent tool against some of the deadliest diseases we know of. Thanks to Jenner’s vaccine, smallpox became the first and only disease to have been completely eradicated in May 1980. 

4. Germ Theory

It’s now common knowledge that many diseases are caused by harmful pathogens, though that hasn’t always been the case. Germ theory, or the idea that specific microscopic organisms are responsible for specific diseases, emerged between 1850 and 1920, and transformed the field of medicine. 

Germ theory originally gained traction due to its compatibility with the prevailing theories of medicine at the time, and it was slowly perfected by many names. There was Joseph Lister, who introduced antiseptic surgical techniques that vastly reduced infection mortality rates. Or Robert Koch, who proved that specific germs cause anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis, establishing the basic principles of germ theory. Another important figure was Louis Pasteur, who created the first lab vaccines for diseases like cholera, anthrax, and rabies.

3. Artificial Intelligence

The development of modern artificial intelligence has been a breakthrough event in the history of medicine. One of its many applications is in the field of diagnosis, where AI systems have achieved accuracy rates comparable to human experts. Another area is drug discovery and the ongoing proliferation of personalized treatment options, as machine-learning algorithms are being applied to analyze genomic data and identify drugs for certain types of diseases. 

Most importantly, AI models are now capable of predicting diseases just by analyzing data, leading to early identification of preventable risks. It’s particularly good at detecting diseases by interpreting sets of medical images.

2. Antibiotics

While experimenting with the influenza virus in 1928, a Scottish bacteriologist, Alexander Fleming, stumbled upon one of the most important discoveries in modern medicine. He was working with a type of fungus, and during one of his experiments, noticed that it didn’t grow near a specific type of mold that had grown on the plate. He realized that the mold – found to be from the Penicillium family of bacteria – has its own antibacterial properties that could counter the harmful effects of certain types of pathogens.

Penicillin was the first known antibiotic in history, and since then, antibiotics have played an important role in modern medicine. During the Second World War, it was an irreplaceable tool to save lives on the battlefield, as many of the deaths in previous wars could be attributed to disease. The discovery of Penicillin led to other breakthrough discoveries in medicine, particularly in the treatment of other serious diseases caused by pathogens like meningitis, pneumonia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. 

1. Hospitals

While places dedicated to amputations, births, wartime injuries, and other medical procedures have always existed in one form or another in most countries, the modern hospital could be directly traced back to the time of Roman Emperor Constantine I – or  Constantine The Great – in the fourth century AD. By the later part of that century, hospitals had started showing up across the eastern part of the empire, as it was inherently tied to the Christian idea of caring for the sick.

The modern hospital would go through many transformations in the years since. Hospitals of various forms cropped up across Europe and the Middle East throughout the Middle Ages – especially in the 12th century. Soon, the institution would be inherently tied to the larger idea of public services, as hospitals and clinics became a regular part of city infrastructure around the world.